MONTHLY NEWS DAIRY - Sosin Classes · 2020. 6. 4. · MONTHLY NEWS DIARY MAY -2020 +91 9989966744...

MONTHLY NEWS DIARY MAY -2020

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MONTHLY NEWS DAIRY (MnD)

(FOR UPSC – PRELIMS & MAINS)

MAY -2020

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Dear Student,

Warm Greetings.

MnD aims to provide news analysis of monthly events in sync

with the UPSC pattern.

It is targeted at UPSC – Prelims & Mains

The articles are provided in the form of Question and

Answers

To have a bank of mains questions.

Providing precise information that can he carries

straight to the exam, rather than over dumping.

Enjoy reading.

THE HINDU - TH

INDIAN EXPRESS - IE

BUSINESS LINE - BL

ECONOMIC TIMES - ET TIMES OF INDIA - TOI

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INDEX

ESSAY PAPER

EDITORIAL

1. Plasma therapy……………………………………………………………………………………………………………06

2. Stranded migrants to their own places………………………………………………………………………..07

3. CII’s call for change in ‘Zonal classification’………………………………………………………………….08

4. Suspension of MPLADS scheme……………………………………………………………………………………08

5. Mitigative steps to handle MSME sector…………………………………………………………………..…10

6. Status of other healthcare fronts amid COVID-19……………………………………………………..…11

7. Styrene Gas leak. ……………………………….……………………………….………………………………………12

8. Female Genital Mutilation in African Nations……………………………….……………………………..13

9. Indian Governments bias towards Industries……………………………….………………………………14

10. European Central bank’s-Quantitative easing……………………………….……………………………..15

11. Restoring 4G services in J&K……………………………….……………………………………………………….16

12. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ Scheme…………………………………………………………………………17

13. ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) and

Climate Change. ……………………………….……………………………….………………………………………..22

14. Need for India to change its Afghan policy……………………………….………………………………….23

15. What is a Syndemic……………………………….……………………………….……………………………………24

16. The Summer Cyclones……………………………….……………………………….……………………………….25

17. Recent cabinet approved schemes……………………………….……………………………………………..26

18. Future of the arts amid COVID-19……………………………….……………………………………………….27

19. RBI’s Revival plan……………………………….……………………………….……………………………………….28

20. Somalia’s situation amidst the pandemic……………………………….……………………………………29

21. Emergency and Scheduled Air travel……………………………….……………………………………….....30

22. Crude Oil revenues funding welfare in India……………………………….……………………………….31

23. Locust swarm……………………………….……………………………….…………………………………………….32

24. Trump’s tirade against the social media……………………………….……………………………………..34

25. Significance of Disaster Management Act (DMA), 2005……………………………………………….35

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GS 1

GEOGRAPHY

1. Binary brown dwarfs……………………………….……………………………….……………………………………..36

2. Affect of cyclones on delaying Indian monsoons……………………………….…………………………….36

HISTORY

3. Life History of Historian……………………………….……………………………….………………………………...36

INDIAN HERITAGE AND CULTURE

4. Latest GI tags in India……………………………….……………………………….…………………………………….37

5. Birthplace of ‘Purandara Dasa’……………………………….……………………………………………………….41

GS 2

GOVERNANCE

1. Health and economic crisis in kerala……………………………….………………………………………………42

2. State Revenue losses amidst COVID-19……………………………….………………………………………….42

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

3. New currency of Iran……………………………….……………………………….…………………………………….43

4. ‘Barter for a Better Fiji’……………………………….……………………………….………………………………….44

5. USA & EU’s social safety nets……………………………….………………………………………………………...44

6. Saudi Arabia’s economic situation……………………………….………………………………………………….46

7. EU’s new measures to salvage tourism……………………………….…………………………………………..47

8. The WHO involved China-Taiwan-India triad……………………………….………………………………….47

9. Indo-China border……………………………….……………………………….…………………………………………48

10. Security Law for Hong Kong by China……………………………….……………………………………………48

11. Open Skies Treaty……………………………….……………………………….……………………………………….49

12. West Asia’s biggest proxy war……………………….……………………………….……………………………..49

SOCIAL JUSTICE

13. Global poverty rise amid COVID-19……………………………….………………………………………………50

14. Demands to increase MGNREGA funding……………………………….……………………………………..51

15. Jharkhand as an ideal amid COVID-19……………………………………………………………………………51

16. Nutritional status………………………………………………………………………………………………………….52

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17. Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyaya Yojana…………………………………………………………………………………..53

18. ‘1st Scheme for returning migrants’ by Madhya Pradesh……………………………………………....53

SNIPPETS

GOVERNANCE

1. High swine flu rate=High covid cases………………………………………………………………………………54


2. Naval ships to Maldives and UAE…………………………………………………………………………………….54

3. Iran’s Economic Storm…………………………………………………………………………………………………….54

4. Interventions related to COVID-19 around the world……………………………………………………..54

5. Japan lifts state of emergency…………………………………………………………………………………………55

SOCIAL JUSTICE

6. Food grains given to States: FCI……………………………………………………………………………………….56

7. Poor find it hard to access the relief scheme money……………………………………………………….56

8. Major Suman Gawani chosen for UN award……………………………….…………………………………..56

GS 3

BIODIVERSITY

1. Tiger population in the Sunderbans……………………………….……………………………………………….57

2. Pinanga Andamanensis……………………………….……………………………….………………………………….57

3. Cyclone Amphan’s attack on BSI……………………………….……………………………………………………59

4. Charru Mussel……………………………….……………………………….……………………………………………….59

5. Dredging activity at Kumbabhishekham mudflat……………………………….……………………………60

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

6. India’s core sector contraction……………………………….……………………………………………………….60

7. SBI extended the moratorium to NBFC’s…………………………………………….…………………………..61

8. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund’s Temporary Suspension………………………..………………….61

9. India's fourth recession since independence……………………………….………………………………..62

10. National Statistical Office’s analysis of the Financial Year 2020…………………………………….63

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SPORTS

11. Hockey Legend Balbir Singh passed away……………………………….…………………………………….63

TECHNOLOGY

12. First ELISA test……………………………….……………………………….…………………………………………….64

13. Current status of ‘e-NAM’……………………………….……………………………….……………………………64

14. Moderna Vaccine for Covid-19……………………………….…………………………………………………….65

15. IIT-Guwahati to fight Alzheimer’s disease……………………………….…………………………………….65

16. Arogya Setu app is now Open Source……………………………….…………………………………………..66

SNIPPETS

BIODIVERSITY

1. Dibang Valley Project delayed……………………………….…………………………………………………….67

2. 2020, a good year for the Olive Ridleys……………………………….……………………………………….67


3. Direct taxes revenues defy lockdown……………………………….………………………………………….67

4. European economy faces historic recession……………………………….……………………………….67

5. CII seeks Immediate Stimulus Package……………………………….………………………………………..68

6. AIIB clears 500$ Million loan to India……………………………….………………………………………….68

7. Bond yields rise……………………………….……………………………….………………………………………….68

8. Industrial output shrank……………………………….……………………………….…………………………….68

9. WB approves $1 Billion to India……………………………….………………………………………………….69

10. Merchandise Exports drop……………………………….………………………………………………………….69

11. Indian Economy and Markets slip……………………………….……………………………………………….69

12. EU’s 750Billion Euro – Economic Rescue Plan……………………………….……………………………..69

13. Bountiful Wheat production……………………………….……………………………………………………….69

14. FDI rises 13% to $50 billion……………………………….…………………………………………………………70

TECHNOLOGY

15. The Disinfectant Tower by DRDO……………………………….…………………………………….…….……70

16. ‘The Long March 5B’ rocket by China+……………………………….…………………………….….………70

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EDITORIAL

1. Discuss the debate around Plasma Therapy? INTRO = Plasma therapy involves infusing patients suffering from COVID-19 with plasma from recovered patients. In theory, the antibodies of the recovered person may help that patient’s immune system fight the virus. While showing great promise, it is a line of treatment that is yet to be validated for efficacy and safety and cannot be deployed widely without caution. The current evidence to conclude anything about the true benefits of this therapy is very thin.

Current Status 1. The convalescent plasma therapy is being currently studied by the Indian Council of Medical Research, through open label, randomised controlled trial to evaluate it for both safety and efficacy. 2. Already, four patients have been enrolled in Ahmedabad and the study will be rolled out in 20 hospitals by the end of this week and at more centres over the next month.

Possible side effects of the therapy are

1. The most important principle in medical ethics is “do no harm”. 2. The transfusion of convalescent plasma is also not without risks, which range from mild reactions like fever, itching, to life-threatening allergic reactions and lung injury. 3. To recommend a therapy without studying it thoroughly with robust scientific methods may cause more harm than good.

Way Forward 1)Till date, there have been only three published case series for convalescent plasma in COVID-19 with a cumulative of 19 patients. Thus, to say with certainty whether a drug is truly effective or not, the gold standard in medicine is to conduct a randomised controlled trial, where half the patients get the experimental drug and the other half do not. Only if patients in the first half show substantial improvement over those in the second half, it indicates the drug is beneficial. 2) Further, convalescent plasma therapy requires intensive resources, healthy COVID-19 survivors to donate, a blood bank with proper machinery and trained personnel to remove plasma, equipment to store it and testing facilities to make sure it has an adequate amount of antibodies. We need to work on protecting our healthcare workers, improving prevention methods, promoting cough etiquettes, effective quarantining and accurate testing. 3) Too much focus on one approach can take away the focus from other important therapeutic modalities like use of oxygen therapy, antivirals, and antibiotics for complicated hospital courses. To overcome the pandemic comprehensively, we should focus on strengthening health systems at all levels, including referral systems, supply chain, logistics and inventory management.

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Science should be driven by reason and evidence with hope as a catalyst but not by either

fear or populism. Pushing one or the other therapy without evidence or caution can only

set back our larger fight against COVID-19. Thus, the fact remains that there are no real

silver bullets in medicine, and health outcomes are a result of not just a few pills or

therapies but a complex set of factors..

2. Discuss ‘Union Home Ministry’s recent steps in helping the stranded migrants’?

INTRO = By all accounts, about 10 million migrant workers have been stranded in different

parts of the country after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide

lockdown on March 24. And the home ministry had initially allowed the movement of the

migrant workers in buses. But several states had questioned the feasibility of the move and

demanded that the railways run special trains to ferry the stranded migrants. Acceding to

their request, the railways have outlined plans to run special Shramik Trains to move

migrant workers, tourists, students, and pilgrims back to their homes.

Having lived on charity in cramped shelters arranged by state governments, NGOs and

some business outfits, these workers are yearning to go back to the familiarity and comfort

of their villages.

Precautionary steps to be taken are –

1) The railways and the state governments must engage and inform the migrants while

planning special trains.

2) Decisions on who gets to be on the trains must be fair and must be seen to be so too.

The state must keep all channels of communications open with those who might

temporarily be left out.

3) Passengers before boarding the train to be screened and social distancing protocols

followed during the journey. Given that several studies have shown that

most coronavirus carriers are asymptomatic, the imperative of following such

protocols on future journeys cannot be overstated.

Challenges faced by Railways –

1. All this may pose logistical challenges for the railways and the state governments.

2. It will require them to cooperate and coordinate on matters such as making lists of

the travelling migrants, ensuring screening facilities for them, and arranging

transport to, and from, the railway stations.

As a concluding remark, the state governments and railway officials should make sure

that these operations are conducted without burdening the migrants but at the same

time, care should be taken to ensure that the virus does not spread to the country’s rural

areas.

3. Problems with states not having flexibility in the classification of Hotspot zones? INTRO = In 603 of the 733 districts, designated green and orange zones, markets other than malls can re-open, factories and industrial units can resume operations, self-employed people such as domestic helpers and barbers can go back to work, and e-commerce in non-essential items can recommence. But the fine print of the relaxation measures has left several states dissatisfied. - Their grouse largely pertains to the red zones, the 130 districts which have been deemed as COVID-19 hotspots and therefore, placed under the maximum restrictions stipulated in the home ministry’s directive.

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https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-social-distancing-in-data-coronavirus-6313355/

https://indianexpress.com/about/coronavirus/




Green zones 319 districts Those have not had a single COVID-19 case in three weeks does testify to the success of the lockdown from a healthcare standpoint.

Orange zones 284 districts Those do not have a high caseload.

However, epidemiologists have consistently emphasised that lockdowns do not frame the endgame in the battle against the virus. Hotspots can change; the infection can recede from some areas and spread to new ones. Problem being – The Centre does allow states to re-designate green zones as orange and red zones. It also allows them the freedom to classify red areas as orange zones. But it does not give them the flexibility to relax the lockdown in areas within the hotspot districts. Way Forward –

1. States and local authorities dealing with the infection at ground level are the best placed to understand its spatial vagaries. 2. It’s, therefore, imperative that they have a say in drawing the boundaries of the areas that have to be opened up. 3. The details of the red, orange, green zone scheme need constant review and revision from such a perspective. Ex1 - Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, for instance, has contended that several

areas that have no COVID-19 cases, Nabha for example, have found themselves ineligible

for relaxations because they happen to be located in red zone districts.

Ex2 - Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has argued against designating entire districts as

red zones — only the containment zones, areas with a high caseload in hot spot districts,

should be subject to strident restrictions.

On these lines, the CII called for changes in zone classification, saying that the 100-150

districts with the highest economic value — identified either through GDP contribution

or density of industrial clusters — should be allowed to restart industrial activity, even

in containment areas, if stringent rules are followed.

4. In light of the recent health crisis and MPLADS suspension, discuss why the decision is

necessary to stay put even post COVID-19?

INTRO = The government’s recent move to suspend the Members of Parliament Local Area

Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years, approved by the Cabinet is to strengthen

the government’s efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact of COVID-19 in

the country.

Under the scheme, each Member of Parliament “has the choice to suggest to the District

Collector for works to the tune of ₹5 crores per annum to be taken up in his/her

constituency.” While this decision taken in the first place is good, the MPLADs scheme

should also be completely abolished, and for the following reasons

1) violates one of the cardinal principles – Separation of Powers

Simply put, this scheme, in effect, gives an executive function to legislators (read

legislature). The argument that MPs only recommend projects, but the final choice

and implementation rests with the district authorities is strange; there are hardly any

authorities in the district who have the courage or the gumption to defy the wishes of

an MP.

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https://indianexpress.com/about/arvind-kejriwal



2) CAG’s observations – Unsatisfactory implementation

Thus, all the above reasons leading to the failure of internal control mechanisms in the

department in terms of non-maintenance of records and etc.

3) Wide variations in the utilisation of the MPLAD amount in various constituencies.

A report published in IndiaSpend has some very interesting insights based on data

made available to it by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Some of these are:

1 A year after they took office, 298 of 542 members of the 16th Lok Sabha — India’s lower house of parliament — have not spent a rupee from the ₹5 crore that is set aside annually for them to develop their constituencies.

2 508 MPs (93.55%) did not, or could not, utilise the entire MPLADS amount from May 4, 2014 till December 10, 2018, in 4 years and 7 months. Only 35 MPs of the Lok Sabha utilised the entire amount of MPLADS during this period.

3 Though ₹1,757 crore had been released for MPLADs, only ₹281 crore had been utilised by all the 543 MPs till May 15, 2015. This means only 16% of the money had been spent in one year by all the MPs put together, because the Lok Sabha was constituted in May 2014.

4 Since the MPLADS began in 1993, ₹5,000 crore was lying unspent with various district authorities by May 15, 2015.

4) Cases of Misuse –

Wide spread talk of money under MPLADS being used to appease or oblige two sets of

people: opinion-makers or opinion-influencers, and favourite contractors. Sometimes

these two categories overlap. An often-heard tale is that of the contractor being a

1. Expenditure incurred by the executing agencies being less than amount booked. Utilisation of funds between 49% to 90% of the booked amount.

2. Though the scheme envisages that works under the scheme should be limited to asset creation, 549 of the 707 works test-checked (78%) of the works recommended were for improvement of existing assets.

3. Wide variations in quantities executed against the quantities specified in the BOQ (Bills of Quantity) in 137 of the 707 works test-checked. Variations ranged from 16 to 2312%. (“2312%” is the figure actually mentioned in the audit report).

4. Use of lesser quantities of material than specified by contractors resulting in excess payments and sub-standard works.

5 “no accountability for the expenditure in terms of the quality and quantities executed against specifications”.

6 Delays in issuing work orders ranging from 5 to 387 days in 57% of the works against the requirement of issuing the work order within 45 days of the receipt of recommendation by the MP.

7. Extensions of time granted to contractors without following the correct procedure.

8. Register of assets created, as required under the scheme, not maintained, therefore location and existence of assets could not be verified.

DAILY NEWS DIARY 05.05.2020

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relative, close friend, or a confidant of the MP, and the contractor and the MP being

financially linked with each other.

5) legality or constitutionality issue –

The constitutional validity of MPLADS was challenged in the Supreme Court of India in

1999, followed by petitions in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005. The combined judgment for

all these petitions was delivered on May 6, 2010, with the scheme being held to be

constitutional.

Here, the top court seems to have placed an unquestioned trust in the efficacy of the

scheme of implementation of MPLADS drawn up by the government without an

assessment of the situation prevalent in the field, evidence of which is available in audit

reports wherein gross irregularities and infirmities in implementation have been

pointed out.

5. What are the mitigative steps to be taken in handling MSME sector to not take the Covid plunge and their current lacunas?

INTRO = The Purchasing Managers Index survey revealed that the manufacturing PMI fell to a record low of 27.4 in April, down from 51.8 in March. Of particular concern during this period of economic distress is the condition of the micro, small and medium enterprises. MSMEs are likely to be the most affected by this economic downturn, both sparked and accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic as- 1) They don’t have the buffers of the bigger firms or 2) Access to cheap capital to help them tide over this period. With demand collapsing, and unlikely to rebound strongly in the near term, it will be increasingly difficult for these businesses to meet their obligations such as repayment of loans or wages to their employees. MSME loans worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore are at a higher risk of becoming non-performing. Further, the working capital requirements of these firms will rise as payment cycles are likely to be stretched, creating additional cash flow problems. This situation is unlikely to revert to normal in the near term even as restrictions on large parts of the country are lifted.

Steps taken 1) To ease the firms’ financial distress during this period, the Reserve bank of India has announced several measures such as a moratorium on term loans, and easier working capital financing. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to allow banks to assign

zero risk weight for loans that will be extended to the micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) under the 20 lakh crore economic package announced by the government.

A 3 lakh crore loan for the MSME sector, will be guaranteed by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility.

Zero risk would mean that banks will not have to set aside additional capital for these loans. The move is aimed at encouraging lenders to extend credit, as banks have turned risk averse and have been reluctant to lend. Banks had been asked to extend loans automatically to eligible borrowers without fear of the ‘3Cs’ — CBI, CVC and CAG.

2) Some public sector banks have also opened up emergency credit lines for businesses.



https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/pandemic-explained-who-novel-coronavirus-covid19-what-is-a-pandemic-6309727/



However, the government response so far has been muted. Some measures have been announced, but they were mostly regulatory and administrative in nature. Reportedly, the government is working on a package to address the needs of the MSMEs. And providing support to MSMEs operating in the informal economy will pose challenges. Yet the delay in announcing a relief package is surprising. Governments across the world have announced various measures ranging from wage support to direct subsidies to help these businesses tide over these difficult times. But, in India, more than a month after the national lockdown was announced, there is still no blueprint of how the government intends to support these businesses during this period.

Steps to be taken

1) To begin with, all dues owned by governments and public sector undertakings to MSMEs can be immediately cleared. This will help ease their immediate cash flow woes.

2) Second, with banks turning risk averse, credit flow to MSMEs is likely to be depressed as solvency concerns will dominate. In such a situation, the government could step in. It could set up a credit guarantee fund that backstops loans to MSMEs.

There is a strong case for urgent government intervention — the costs of intervening early on will be much less than the price of delayed action.

6. Discuss the status of other healthcare fronts amidst Covid-19 emergency?

INTRO = Last month, as the country framed medical protocols and mobilised its healthcare infrastructure to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, there were concerns that the needs of patients with other critical diseases could suffer in the process. A report has cited National Health Authority data to show a sharp fall in non-COVID treatment procedures in private and government facilities. This data is particularly worrying because it shows that the lockdown has compromised the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’s (PMJAY) ability to reach out to critically ill patients. Cardiology treatments offered under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) declined 45% ; ‘general surgeries’ plummeted 23% and procedures related to gynaecology and obstetrics nosedived 25% from February to April.

In the past 10 years, studies have shone a light on India’s growing non-communicable

disease — cardiovascular ailments, cancer, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental

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health conditions. While the public health infrastructure in most parts of the country is far from adequate to meet the challenges posed by this combination of NCDs and infectious diseases, the particularly poor states struggle the most during serious outbreaks. Authorities in Bihar, for instance, will have to make arrangements for the returning migrants.

The immunisation drive — against a host of diseases including TB, hepatitis, polio, diphtheria, measles, and rotavirus — has suffered because the community health workers, who drive this programme in the country’s rural areas, have been roped in for COVID-19 surveillance. According to conservative estimates, at least 5 million children have missed out on vaccination. Thus keeping the above observations in mind, the government needs to recognise that slowing down other health services while the nation deals with the pandemic could lead to serious public health complications. And medical authorities would do well to ensure that this record of declining trend on other health fronts is well balanced and not neglected any further.

7. Discuss the styrene gas leak – its causes and effects?

INTRO = The gas that leaked from a chemical factory on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam on Thursday, leaving at least 11 dead and sending hundreds to hospital, is called styrene. Residents of habitations around Gopalapatnam, close to the site where the LG Polymers plant is located, passed out as the hazardous styrene vapour swept through the area at night. Styrene, the chemical involved in the disaster-struck plant that produces polystyrene products, is included in the schedule of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989. The rules lay down strict norms on how it should be handled and stored.

What is Styrene Styrene is an organic compound with the formula C8H8. It is a derivative of benzene (C6H6). It is stored in factories as a liquid, but evaporates easily, and

has to be kept at temperatures under 20°C.

Cause of the leak As the styrene was stagnant for 44 days, officials said, it was possible that some gas accumulated at the ceiling of the storage tank and its temperature rose beyond the specified 20°C, and the styrene started vaporising and escaped. This is called auto-polymerisation.

However, the exact cause is still being ascertained. The company has not explained how the storage tank ruptured and the gas escaped. Thus, it will take an enquiry to establish what caused the incident.

Short term effects

Exposure to styrene gas affects the central nervous system, breathlessness, respiratory problems, irritation in eyes, indigestion, nausea, transient loss of consciousness, unsteady gait, giddiness are caused by exposure to it.

Long term effects

Experts say that if people are exposed to the gas for a long period, there is a chance of their developing leukaemia and headaches.

Studies on the effects on health due to occupational exposure to styrene have, however, been inconclusive.

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https://indianexpress.com/elections/visakhapatnam-lok-sabha-election-results/

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/visakhaptnam-lg-polymers-gas-leakage-live-updates-6397737/



Thus, As India aims for a wider manufacturing base; it needs to strengthen its approach to public and occupational safety. Transparent oversight is not a hurdle to industrial growth. It advances sustainable development by eliminating terrible mistakes.

8. Discuss the politics around ending ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ in the African nations?

INTRO = According to the UN, over 200 million women in several African countries, including Sudan, Egypt, Nigeria, Djibouti and Senegal, and some in Asia, have been subject to this brutal social custom – i.e., Female Genital Mutilation. Also the UN estimates that some 87% of Sudanese women have had their external genitalia removed on non-medical grounds during childhood, leaving them with life-long emotional and physical injuries. Current Scenario in SUDAN – Sudan’s decision to outlaw the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a landmark victory for women’s rights in a country that is still in a transition from dictatorship to democracy. The development follows the transitional government’s decision to scrap the repressive social codes and humiliating penalties that targeted women during the nearly 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, which fell last year amid protests. Hundreds of Sudanese professionals who spearheaded the protests, had clamoured for a broad-based and inclusive constitutional order. Problems - 1) The new measure, which entails punishment with a fine and a prison sentence, must

still be approved by the Supreme Council, made up of civilians and military officials, that oversees the democratic transition.

2) Despite the ongoing research to rectify the damage of FGM, WHO is somewhat sceptical about the effectiveness of recent reconstruction surgeries.

3) While the latest measure has been widely welcomed, campaigners remain cautious about a shift in attitude against this custom, regarded as crucial prior to matrimony.

4) The government’s decision builds on the curbs already in place in a number of provinces, although enforcement has been a concern.

Even in countries where FGM is outlawed, enforcement remains an issue . For Example –

In Egypt’s first FGM trial in 2014, six years after Cairo clamped a ban, the doctor who had carried out the procedure, as well as the father of the deceased girl, were acquitted, despite incriminating forensic evidence.

In Somalia, the country with the highest prevalence rate but no legal ban, the death of a girl in 2018 after a similar procedure led to the first prosecution in such incidents.

In Uganda, reports last year of some 300 cases of mutilation within a month shed light on the government’s uphill task to back existing legislation with vigorous awareness campaigns.

In Kenya, where the practice was criminalised in 2011, the government strategy last year requiring girls to be tested for circumcision raised concerns of victimisation and privacy violation.

These practices suggest that legislation alone may not stop this practice that has deep

cultural roots. The Sudanese government has to eradicate it. Sustaining the country’s

progressive currents and democratic transition would be crucial to consolidate the gender

reforms it has introduced in recent months.

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9. Explain how the Centre and States seem to protect the Industries rather than the

Migrant Laborers?

INTRO = The sudden announcement of the nationwide lockdown since March 23 left an

estimated 13 crore migrants with no way to return home and no money. However, the

State and Centre remained quiet about ensuring adequate relief to them or ways for them

to return home. When the lockdown for migrants was relaxed from April 29 permitting

inter-State movement of migrant workers. It proved to be just an eyewash as –

1) It permitted only “stranded workers” to leave, with the Centre clarifying that workers

“otherwise residing normally at places, other than their native places for purposes of

work” are not “stranded”.

2) Yet another circular said that the workers, who have no money left, would have to pay

for their train tickets. It was clear that all these were deliberate attempts to prevent

workers from leaving the State.

3) When the lockdown was relaxed from April 20, the Standard Operating Procedure

issued permitted asymptomatic workers to return to their worksites where they were

to reside, but not to their home State. This denial, trade unions alleged, was because

industry heads were worried that there would be labour shortage when industries

reopened.

4) However, the same industrial heads did nothing to ensure that these workers were

given adequate food, shelter and their dues during the lockdown.

NOW-

5) As thousands of migrant workers walk across India in a desperate attempt to reunite

with their families, States are competing with one another to provide greater

relaxation of labour laws to appear ‘industry friendly’. U.P., for instance, has cleared

an ordinance exempting businesses and industries from labour laws, except for a

handful, for three years. The Centre has done the same through its many circulars and

clarifications issued during the lockdown. The worst affected are the migrant workers.

Railways and inter-State travel are within the Centre’s control. The Central government

could have ensured that travel was free. Effectively, the Centre once again sought to

protect industry at the cost of the workers’ rights, while appearing as though it was

doing its best for the workers. Recently, Karnataka cancelled Shramik trains after the

Chief Minister met prominent builders in the State.

6) Through their various actions, the States and the Centre are consistently and

systemically violating the fundamental rights of migrant workers. Article 23 of the

Constitution prohibits “forced labour”. The Supreme Court, in PUDR v. Union of India

(1982), held that “the word ‘force’ must... be construed to include... force arising from

the compulsion of economic circumstances which leaves no choice of alternatives to a

person in want and compels him to provide labour or service even though the

remuneration received for it is less than the minimum wage.”

7) It would also run afoul of the International Labour Organization’s ‘Employment and

Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017’ which requires states

to ensure marginalised groups “freely choose employment” while rebuilding after any

disaster. Thus, the various Home Ministry directives and State ordinances would be

violative not only of India’s own Constitution but also its international commitments.

The workers have no autonomy. This autonomy over self is at the core of dignity, a

fundamental right. Until we develop a plan that respects this invisible 13-crore force,

there can be no real revival of India’s economy or society. DAILY NEWS DIARY 11.05.2020

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10. Explain the problems with the European Central banks pursuance of quantitative

easing?

INTRO = Germany’s highest court ruled last week that the European Central Bank (ECB)

exceeded its mandate in pursuing Quantitative Easing (QE) to rescue the eurozone

from the sovereign debt crisis. The verdict is the culmination of fresh hearings that

commenced in the country last year to apply the 2018 European Court of Justice (ECJ)

decision to uphold the controversial programme. (QE refers to the unconventional

monetary tool of public sector asset purchases the ECB has deployed to stimulate

economic demand and stoke inflation in the eurozone.)

The court in Karlsruhe has asked the Frankfurt-based institution to justify its huge

purchases of government bonds. Failure to furnish proof within three months that these

purchases have not had a disproportionate impact on other economic policies risks

jeopardizing Berlin’s participation in QE, the court observed.

Significantly, the Karlsruhe court last week did not think the ECB debt purchases

amounted to direct financing of governments. And that, it is time for the ‘EU fiscal

stimulus’, where the squabbles are about –

1) Germany’s monetary hawks having their eyes set on the distorted real estate prices

from the prolonged negative interest rates in the eurozone and the impact on

lenders and pension funds to continue their assault on QE.

2) The Karlsruhe decision is believed to have no direct bearing on the ECB’s expansion

of asset purchases by another €750 billion of bonds under the so-called pandemic

emergency purchase programme until the year-end in response to COVID-19. But

the removal of the ceiling to acquire no more than one-third of a country’s debt

could potentially expose the institution to fresh legal challenges.

Claims Counterclaims

The ECB’s bond-buying under

QE, of over €2.2 trillion since

2014, in order to raise

eurozone inflation close to its

2% target, has long proved

contentious in the eurozone’s

affluent northern states. Critics

in Germany and the

Netherlands argue that public

debt purchases by the central

banks of eurozone member

states with ECB funding

amounted to monetary

financing of government

spending by the ECB. This has

been barred under EU law, so

as to insulate the institution

from political pressures.

QE advocates refute the claim,

insisting that the ECB was buying

bonds from investors in secondary

markets, not directly from

governments. They also point to

the self-imposed cap on its

holdings of up to one-third of the

debt of any country and to acquire

sovereign assets in proportion to

the size of the economy, as

measured by the share of ECB

capital. These constraints are

intended as safeguards against

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The sustained attacks on the lender of last resort should serve as a wake-up call for

eurozone leaders who are squabbling over the bloc’s rescue package for the post-

pandemic recovery. Moves to mutualise the bloc’s debt acquire greater urgency than ever,

as also calls for governments to infuse a bold fiscal stimulus.

11. Explain how the Supreme Court failed in discharging its judicial duty in the case of Jammu & Kashmir?

INTRO = Its decision to send the question of restoring 4G connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir for a review to the very authorities who imposed the restriction in the first place is a clear abdication of responsibility. The mandate that the Court enjoys under Article 32 of the Constitution — to enforce fundamental rights — cannot be transferred to the executive. It is quite stark that the three-member Bench has resorted to this measure despite coming to the conclusion that the grievance of the petitioners merits consideration. The judgment is in consonance with a judicial trend that seeks ‘balance’ between rights and ‘national security’.

What the SC

didn’t do The Court has not even pursued the attempt it made in Anuradha Bhasin, to lay down a set of rules by which authorities seeking to impose restrictions on fundamental rights must adhere to the doctrine of proportionality. And also refrained from taking any view on the legality of the government’s imposition of a blanket communication lockdown in J&K in the wake of the abrogation of the special status enjoyed till then by the erstwhile State.

What the SC did

do 1. However, it held that repeated resort to Section 144 of the

CrPC to impose wide restrictions without territorial or temporal limits was unacceptable.

2. In the present case, it has asked the panel to consider the case made out by the petitioners for restoring 4G services.

Why the Panel now?

The Court acknowledges that it might be better and convenient to have better Internet facilities during a global pandemic and a national lockdown than 2G services. However, it takes into account two claims by the government: 1. That there ought to be limits on data speed to prevent

terrorists misusing it to disturb peace and tranquility. 2. And two, that there has been a spike in incidents of terrorism

— 108 incidents, in fact, between August 5, 2019 and April 25, 2020 — in the area.

What the SC ought to do?

The Court also considered recent incidents including the encounter at Handwara. A question that it failed to ask was how these incidents could be linked to Internet speed when all of them took place while severe restrictions were in place. Without a judicial standard to scrutinise claims made in the name of national security, is it right to use them to dislodge fundamental rights?

Thus, with all the above reasons we come to the conclusion that the delicate balancing the Court attempts with respect to Jammu & Kashmir is, in fact, no balance at all.

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12. How well is the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ Scheme aiding the credit market? INTRO = The first tranche of announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan announced a 3 lakh crore collateral-free loan scheme for businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as part of a 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

1 The measures announced will go a long way in lifting the spirits of the two key and troubled sectors of MSMEs and non-banking finance companies. While for the former it is an existential crisis, for the latter it is one of liquidity.

2 The rates of tax deduction at source (TDS) and tax collection at source (TCS) have been cut by 25% for the next year, while statutory provident fund (PF) payments have been reduced from 12% to 10% for both employers and employees for the next three months.

3 MSMEs will get the bulk of the funding. The 3 lakh crore emergency credit line will ensure that 45 lakh units will have access to working capital to resume business activity and safeguard jobs, Ms. Sitharaman said.

4 For two lakh MSMEs which are stressed or considered non-performing assets, the Centre will facilitate provision of 20,000 crore as subordinate debt. A 50,000 crore equity infusion is also planned, through an MSME fund of funds with a corpus of 10,000 crore.

5 The definition of an MSME is being expanded to allow for higher investment limits and the introduction of turnover-based criteria. In a bid to fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of a self-reliant or “atmanirbhar” India, global tenders will not be allowed for government procurement up to 200 crore.

6 Apart from MSMEs, other stressed business sectors which got attention were non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), power distribution companies, contractors and the real estate industry.

7 With these the government has broken the logjam wherein banks were unwilling to extend credit despite the RBI’s strong push. This should largely attenuate the liquidity crisis in the non-banking space for now.

The first tranche of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan includes the ongoing Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, meant to support the poorest and most vulnerable

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communities during the pandemic, as well as several measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India.

2nd tranche of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Yojana’ and its focus

A major focus of the second tranche of the economic stimulus package announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is to provide free foodgrains for the next two months to the 8 Crore migrant workers who do not have ration cards. The Centre will spend 3,500 crore for this purpose. Apart from measures for migrant workers, the second tranche announced by the government included an extension of credit facilities for urban housing, street vendors and farmers and an interest subvention scheme for small businesses. The move to provide free foodgrain for migrant workers is an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, with details of the provisions being –

The Finance Ministry also added that, by August 2020, the ration card portability scheme will allow 67 crore NFSA beneficiaries in 23 connected States to use their cards at any ration shop anywhere in the country, allowing migrant workers to access subsidized food away from their home villages. The scheme would cover all beneficiaries by March 2021.

Third Tranche of economic package The third tranche of the economic package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday focused on agriculture and allied activities and had two sets of measures:

First, steps aimed at boosting credit flow to parts of the agri-ecosystem, funded by NABARD.

The second, and arguably the more substantive part of the announcements related to the government’s intention to amend the Essential Commodities Act, usher in agricultural marketing reforms, and put in place a legal framework to facilitate direct dealings between farmers and buyers — all of which, if implemented, could potentially deliver sizeable returns in the long term.

It also announced plans to enact a central law to permit barrier-free inter-State trade of farm commodities and ensure a legal framework to facilitate contract farming.

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https://indianexpress.com/about/nirmala-sitharaman/

https://indianexpress.com/about/nirmala-sitharaman/



The third tranche also included plans to invest 1.5 lakh crore to build farm-gate infrastructure and support logistics needs for fishworkers, livestock farmers, vegetable growers, beekeepers and related activities, although this includes some previously budgeted money and extensions of existing schemes.

Advantages

1 The government’s announcement of excluding food items such as cereals, edible oils, pulses, onions, and potatoes, and also doing away with stock limits, is very welcome. As is the move to initiate marketing reforms meant to provide more choice to farmers.

2 These initiatives by the states may have been triggered by the need to relieve the pressure on mandis in order to maintain social distancing norms during the COVID pandemic, the Centre’s decision could permanently alter the dynamics.

3 As the situation exists today, farmers are bound to sell their produce only to licencees in APMCs. The Centre’s move could end their stranglehold over agricultural trade. Put together, these two steps will enable farmers to sell their produce to anyone, and provide traders and organised retailers the flexibility to procure and stock food items.

4 This could facilitate private investment in the sector, strengthening the farm-to-fork chain, and benefiting both producers and consumers.

5 Other announcements such as the creation of a legal framework to enable farmers to engage with processors, aggregators, large retailers, suggest a push towards contract farming.

And also the Centre has been attempting to reform agricultural marketing through a model Act which it encourages States to adopt.

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Fourth tranche = Government throws open efforts to boost a sagging economy, by

indigenizing the defense production and liberalizing coal sectors. With steps taken such as

–

Analysis -

1 There are concerns that the current set of announcements was more of

industrial reforms than an economic stimulus.

2 The sectors covered are of strategic importance and would involve a long time

period. They would not be able to help revive the economy as it comes out of

the lockdown.

3 The only direct budgetary cost in the new announcement is the 8,100 crore

rupees to be provided as a hiked 30% viability gap funding to boost private

investment in social sector infrastructure.

4 Some sections have alleged that the government has used the crisis time to

utilise the ordinance route or other ways to fast-track industrial reforms, which

would have faced resistance otherwise.

5 Labour unions have expressed concerns with regard to the reform measures

over concerns of privatization of important sectors.

Fifth tranche =The Centre has agreed to demands from States to hike their borrowing limits from 3% to 5% of their GDP in light of the COVID-19 crisis, but on the condition that they implement specific reforms in various sectors such as –

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Analysis of Economic Stimulus package as a whole

The much-hyped 20-lakh crore economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a minimum impact on the fiscal cost, estimated at about 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to estimates by several brokerages, the Centre’s fiscal burden is seen ranging between 0.8% and 1.2% of the GDP. While Mr. Modi had pegged the size of the economic package at 10% of the GDP.

The drawbacks include –

1 1) Regulatory in Nature -The government has aimed for the maximum bang [with the] minimum buck, with most of the relief either regulatory in nature or reflecting in its contingent liabilities rather than explicit budgetary support. The pandemic had been used as a cover to plough through long-pending, politically-sensitive structural reforms.

2 2) Doesn’t address the problem of existential crisis - As a result, the package may fall short of mitigating the near-term existential crisis for businesses and workers, but is better designed to improve India’s medium-term growth potential and attract long-term risk capital.

3 Bias towards the Industries – Where, the government has faced flak from the Opposition parties for not putting money in the hands of the poor who face an existential crisis with the lockdown, which is now over 50 days, destroying their livelihoods.

Looking at the breakdown, the liquidity support and credit guarantee measures accounted for almost three-fourths of the economic support package, followed by monetary measures at 15% and fiscal support at only 10%. However, Within the fiscal constraints of government, extensive use of guarantees and credit lines to provide breathing space to MSMEs, economically weaker sections, farmers and NBFCs, as well as creating long-term changes in some other sectors, is an appreciable move but this may not be seen as enough to solve the immediate COVID-19 challenges.

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13. What are the contributions of ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) in the current changing climate scenario? INTRO = With the theme study of this year’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) being ‘Changing Sails: Accelerating Regional Actions for Sustainable Oceans in Asia and the Pacific’, It brought to us various observations with regard to the importance Asia-Pacific plays in our seas. The seas provide food, livelihoods and a sense of identity, especially for coastal communities in the Pacific island states. Sadly, escalating strains on the marine environment are threatening to drown progress and our way of life. In less than a century, climate change and unsustainable resource management have degraded ecosystems and diminished biodiversity. Such as –

S.No CHALLENGES WAY FORWARD

1 Revealing that without data, we are swimming in the dark. Data are available for only two out of ten targets for the Sustainable Development Goal 14, ‘Life Below Water’.

Due to limitations in methodology and

national statistical systems,

information gaps have persisted at

uneven levels across countries.

2 While there is much we cannot see,

images of plastic pollution have become

commonplace. Asia and the Pacific

produces nearly half of global plastic by

volume, of which it consumes 38%.

Plastics represent a double burden for

the ocean: their production generates

CO2 absorbed by the ocean, and as a

final product enters the ocean as

pollution.

Beating this challenge will hinge upon

effective national policies and re-

thinking production cycles.

3 Environmental decline is also affecting

fish stocks. Our region’s position as the

world’s largest producer of fish has

come at the cost of over-exploitation.

The percentage of stocks fished at

unsustainable levels has increased

threefold from 10% in 1974 to 33% in

2015.

Generating complete data on fish

stocks, fighting illicit fishing activity

and conserving marine areas must

remain a priority.

4 While the most connected shipping

economies are in Asia, the small island

developing States of the Pacific

experience much lower levels of

connectivity, leaving them relatively

isolated from the global economy.

Closing the maritime connectivity gap

must be placed at the centre of regional

transport cooperation efforts.

We must also work with the shipping community to navigate toward green shipping. Enforcing sustainable shipping policies is essential.

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Trans-boundary ocean management and linking ocean data call for close cooperation among countries in the region. Harnessing ocean statistics through strong national statistical systems will serve as compass guiding countries to monitor trends, devise timely responses and clear blind spots.

Through the Ocean Accounts Partnership, ESCAP is working with countries to harmonise ocean data and provide a space for regular dialogue.

Translating international agreements and standards into national action is also key.

ESCAP is working with member states to implement International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements. Keeping the ocean plastic-free will depend on policies that promote a circular economy approach. This minimises resource use and will require economic incentives and disincentives.

Our oceans keep our economy and our lives above the waves. In the post-COVID-19 era,

we must use the years ahead to steer our collective fleets toward sustainable oceans.

14. After the recent Afghan President – Taliban deal, why is debated that there is a need for

India to change its policy stand and how?

INTRO = The power sharing agreement between Abdullah Abdullah, head of Taliban and

Ashraf Ghani, elected head of Afghanistan will inevitably further weaken Mr.Ghani. As

According to it, Ghani is to retain presidency, leaving Abdullah to lead key council.

If India’s foreign and security policy planners had anticipated developments in Afghanistan

they would have pursued nimble approaches, seeking to establish open connections with

all its political groups, including with those perceived to be in Pakistan’s pocket. Instead,

they continued to rigidly cling to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani even as his equities

diminished with each passing month. Such as-

1) The United Nations Secretariat organised a meeting on Afghanistan where it invited

the six current physical neighbours of Afghanistan—China, Pakistan, Iran,

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. In addition, invitations were extended to the

United States, Russia and the Ghani government. Obviously, Mr. Ghani did not

condition his participation on India’s inclusion. He should have done so if only for the

constructive role New Delhi has played in Afghanistan’s reconstruction since the

Taliban were ousted from the country in 2001-2002 after 9/11. Also, for consistently

supporting him.

2) Mr.Ghani upon assuming the leadership of the National Unity Government brokered

by the Americans in September 2014, had then relegated India to the fourth

concentric circle of five in importance to Afghan interests. Hence, it is not surprising

that he did not bat adequately for India to become part of the meeting called by the

UN.

3) What truly cut India more to the quick was the U.S. going along with India’s

absence.

India cannot override the blunt message conveyed by the U.S. official – Khalilzad in his

interview that, “India should talk directly to Taliban, discuss terror concerns directly’.

He noted that despite India’s contributions to Afghanistan’s economic development

— and these are undeniably significant covering large parts of the country, and are

popular — as well as its long history of contacts with that country, it does not have a

place in international diplomacy on Afghanistan that it could.

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Taliban, Pakistan and USA –

Thus, Mr. Khalilzad’s views in their entirety, it is clear that he feels that by avoiding open

contacts with the Taliban, India has reduced its role in international diplomatic efforts.

Now the U.S. is currently crucially dependent on Pakistan for the successful

implementation of its Taliban deal aimed at securing as orderly a withdrawal as possible

from what is a major strategic reverse.

Way Forward for India –

In such a situation, it was essential for India to have maintained its strong links with the Afghan government, built and supported its traditional Afghan allies, but also establish open lines of communication with the Taliban. This was especially because they were informally conveying that India should not consider them as Pakistan’s puppets and also because they had gained international recognition.

India needs to take corrective diplomatic action even at this late stage, and even in the

time of COVID-19. It must realise that its Afghan policy needs changes.

15. What is a Syndemic? Explain its risks around the current Covid pandemic?

INTRO = A syndemic “is a situation when two or more epidemics interact synergistically to

produce an increased burden of disease in a population”, a situation first described by

medical anthropologist Merrill Singer in the mid-1990s.

The World Health Organization has announced that COVID-19 will likely never go away. Experts warn that there will be a second wave of infections. Meanwhile, some people have also raised the alarm about diseases like dengue and malaria emerging with the upcoming monsoon season in tropical South Asia. Therefore, going forward, could COVID-19 become even more problematic by becoming a syndemic?, is the lingering question!!!

Risks of COVID Pandemic turning into a Syndemic include –

1) The 1957 Asian influenza pandemic, for example, showed that deaths then could be not only due to the primary viral infection, but also due to secondary bacterial infections among influenza patients; in short, they were caused by a viral/bacterial syndemic. Meanwhile, researchers have shown that in Kisumu, Kenya, 5% of HIV infections are due to higher HIV infectiousness of malaria-infected HIV patients.

2) Some also say that we need to watch out for secondary bacterial infection in those with weakened immunity due to COVID-19. Given that antibiotics resistance across the world is already a problem, the medical community needs to be aware of co-morbidities, especially if COVID-19 deepens as a syndemic in populations with antibiotic resistance.

Way Forward –

1) If that happens, along with large-scale population testing, societies around the world will also have to consider innovations in population health surveillance technology and develop creative business models at a scale potentially unheard of in recent times.

Ex - MIT alumnus Inder Singh’s startup, Kinsa, makes smart thermometers that are already making waves in the U.S. Many argue that Kinsa thermometers could be the key to constantly monitoring temperatures.

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2) Another solution is to monitor oxygen levels in the brain daily through a pulse oximeter. It turns out that COVID-19 is causing happy hypoxia, where lack of oxygen in the brain is going undetected till things become too late.

3) However, some say that this should not crowd out other important strategies like aggressive population-level PCR and antibody testing.

Overall, In India closing State borders, discriminating against migrants returning to their home States, and quarantining them in public locations may not be a viable option with the upcoming dengue and malaria season. Thus, due to financial reasons, it is high time for India to evaluate innovative population health surveillance technologies to complement testing, especially now with the rising likelihood of COVID-19 becoming endemic and also probably syndemic.

16. How are the Summer Cyclones a whammy for the East Indian States?

INTRO = For both West Bengal and Odisha, it is a double whammy. The two states are

already battling a surge in Covid-19 with all its peculiarities. Tropical cyclone Amphan,

which brewed over the Bay of Bengal long enough to turn into a super cyclone over the

sea, has now weakened a bit. But by the time it reaches the West Bengal-Bangladesh

coast between Digha and Hatiya as predicted, it would still be a fierce storm powerful

enough to wreak havoc.

Much as one hopes that the storm—the first super cyclone since the 1999 one that

ravaged Odisha—leaves minimal impact on life and property, the actual effect would

be known only after it makes landfall. West Bengal seems to be on a direct collision

course with the monstrous storm, but a good part of northern Odisha will also be

affected. The eastern Indian coast has had a long history of natural calamities, Bay of

Bengal being the womb of all the storms that form during the monsoon season.

Ex - The scary part, though, is the emergence of summer cyclones. Last year, Fani

ripped through Odisha, causing widespread devastation. It was after more than a 100

years that a tropical cyclone had hit the eastern mainland during April. With Amphan

this year, the summer nightmare seems to be turning into an annual pattern.

Way Forward –

Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha—known for its disaster-readiness—has moved every resource to ensure minimum casualty of people in Covid-care facilities. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too has expressed her preparedness to meet the eventualities.

One only hopes that Amphan does weaken as expected and does not inflict huge costs of human life and property.

Another disaster at this crucial juncture may just upset all the efforts of the states and pile on more misery and tragedy on the hapless people.

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17. What are the recent cabinet approved schemes and their criticisms?

ANS =

SCHEME CONDITIONS CRITICISMS

3 Lakh

Core

Funding

for

MSME’s

Under the scheme, 100% guarantee coverage will be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) to eligible MSMEs and interested borrowers of the MUDRA scheme, in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility. Conditions Include -

The tenure of loan under this scheme will be four years with a moratorium period of one year on the principal amount. No guarantee fee will be charged by NCGTC.

Interest rates on loans extended by banks and financial institutions will be capped at 9.25%, and 14% for those extended by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

The scheme would be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL till October 31, or till an amount of 3 lakh crore is sanctioned, whichever is earlier.

Since the scheme is not

directly guaranteed by

the government, banks

still have to attach a

risk weight of 20% for

the loans.

NBFC

Liquidity

Plan

A 30,000-crore special liquidity scheme for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies aimed at improving the cash position of these entities. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be set up by a public sector bank to manage a Stressed Asset Fund (SAF) whose special securities would be guaranteed by the Government of India and purchased by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) only.

Industrial body states the scheme to be a non starter, due to the short tenure of the funds.

The funds will be made available for a tenor of up to three months while a majority of the lending done is for a tenure of 2-3 years. In order to prevent any asset-liability mismatch, the expectation was for a tenure of three years.

The

Pradhan

Mantri

Matsya

Sampada

Yojana

The PMMSY scheme as a response to COVID -19 is focused on infrastructure investments that will help fish workers to boost their incomes – 1. The PMMSY will increase fish

production by 9%, double incomes of fishers and double export earnings by 2024-25.

2. It involves investments of more than ₹20,000 crore from Centre, the States and beneficiaries over a five-year period.

The demand for immediate financial assistance for fish workers, especially in light of huge losses during the lockdown, through cash benefit transfer is dismissed.

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Other Approved Schemes by Cabinet

1. A subsidy of almost 3,110 crore for distribution of extra foodgrains to about eight

crore migrant workers and their families.

2. A new centrally-sponsored scheme to support micro food processing units at an outlay

of 10,000 crore, the expenditure being shared by the Centre and the States on a 60:40

basis.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved the adoption of a new

methodology for the auction of coal and lignite blocks on a revenue-sharing basis. The

tenure of coking coal linkage was increased to 30 years. It will also permit commercial

exploitation of coal-bed methane in the mining lease area.

18. Discuss the fate of Performing arts and OTT platforms in the face of COVID-19?

INTRO = The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has led to large-scale anxieties about the future of

the arts. Many livelihoods rely upon the performing and visual arts. It is just not the

fraternity of artistes but their support staff, co-workers and an entire ecosystem that is

sustained through their practice. We are the largest film-making nation in the world. The

film industry offers jobs to several thousands. While, this pandemic will significantly impact

our film-viewing behavior and other economic decisions around it. Where –

1) We might stay away from film theatres to avoid large gatherings.

2) This could also indicate a shift towards viewing films on online platforms.

Ex – Where two big Hindi films, one Tamil and Telugu film, amongst others, are being

released on a digital platform next month owing to the uncertainty about theatrical

release in near future.

Problems with the mainstream platforms are-

1) A film theatre has to cater to mainstream audience expectations for business reasons.

In the process, many deserving films often miss out on decent screening slots or have

to make do with whatever is available.

2) Our celebrity-based film culture largely pivots around the star. The film is forgotten

while we find ways to memorialize the star.

While, the advantages associated with OTT (Over the Top) platforms are –

1) Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc., have witnessed a record surge in subscriptions during the

lockdown, meaning that these platforms offer a plethora of entertainment options for

people locked inside their homes.

2) The content and range of programmes on these portals is also far superior to what is

available on regular television.

3) There are films and TV series which are especially commissioned by and released

exclusively on these platforms.

4) Also, you could bypass many of the problems of censor certification if you release

films on these platforms.

5) Amidst the ongoing pandemic, many film festivals are moving online.

6) Other film streaming platforms are making foreign and documentary cinema available

at a nominal fee for a limited time span.

And also, the disadvantages included are –

1. Access to these platforms is largely limited to an urban demography that can afford

an Internet connection.

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2. Along with this the subscription fees also determines the class character of its potential

viewers.

Despite all the above pros and cons, there is no denying the fact that watching a film on

the big screen has its own merits and an inherent sense of community but safety concerns

might outweigh everything else. And interestingly, OTT platforms surfaced up with all that

they have to offer observing the social distancing norms.

For Prelims –

Over the top (OTT) refers to film and television content provided via a high-speed Internet

connection rather than a cable or satellite provider. OTT does not mean free, as the term

encompasses services such as Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and HBO Now.

19. Describe RBI’s Revival plan and its efforts in buttressing the economy from the

COVID-19 fallout?

INTRO = The set of measures announced that will reduce the cost of capital and

ease the financial burden on businesses due to the extended lockdown are –

1) With repo rate cut of 40 basis points, the RBI has shaved off 1.15 percentage points

from the rate chart in the 58 days since the lockdown began, bringing the repo rate down to 4% and the reverse repo rate to 3.35%. With this, it does appear that the central bank may have played out its rate cut card for now as prudence would dictate that it reserves some leverage for the future if economic conditions deteriorate even further.

2) In fact, there are those who believe that the latest cut may be no more than a sentiment booster, While existing borrowers may be the only beneficiaries of the rate cut at this point in time. That said, the RBI deserves a pat on the back for listening to feedback, thus, the extension of the repayment moratorium on loans is a welcome measure.

3) Allowing accumulated interest on working capital loans to be converted into a term loan repayable by the end of this fiscal. Borrowers would otherwise have been faced with the daunting prospect of paying up their interest dues in one shot at the end of the moratorium period. The extended period given may however still not be enough, and the RBI could have rather put off accumulated interest repayment by one year; it might well find itself in a situation where it is forced to offer another extension in the next few months.

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4) The increase in group exposure limit for banks to 30% from 25% will help large corporate borrowers who may find themselves handicapped in raising funds from the markets now.

There was some disappointment in the markets that the RBI did not relax norms for loan restructuring by lenders. But there is hope that this may well form part of the RBI’s next announcement.

20. What are Somalia’s 2 big questions amidst the pandemic?

INTRO = As Somalia grapples with the staggering challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic,

chances are that –

Hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Somalia’s maritime dispute with

Kenya will be deferred yet again.

And also the public health emergency raising a question mark on the general elections

scheduled for later this year, especially as the nation seeks to restore universal

suffrage after five decades.

Maritime Dispute –

Somalia and neighbouring Kenya have locked horns for over a decade on the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean. At issue is a roughly 1,00,000 sq km area, which, as per seismic surveys, contains huge deposits of oil and gas. Under a 2009 Memorandum of Understanding, each granted the other no objection to presenting separate submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. The parties also committed to finding a settlement in accordance with international law on the basis of the CLCS’s recommendations.

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But friction intensified following Kenya’s 2011 despatch of troops into Somalia, ostensibly to counter the al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Shabab. Kenya’s backing for the semi-autonomous Jubaland region has also caused consternation in Somalia. Given the diminishing prospects of a mutual compromise on the dispute, Somalia petitioned the ICJ in 2014. Somalia won a symbolic victory of sorts in February 2017.

In a diplomatic row last year, Kenya recalled its ambassador and expelled Somalia’s envoy, accusing the Somalian government of illegally auctioning oil blocks in the disputed waters. In parallel, the African Union has intervened to find a settlement out of court via a mediator. As regards the judicial proceedings at The Hague, a decision is expected on the public hearings, postponed twice last year, scheduled to commence next month.

Universal Suffrage –

The people of Somalia will, later this year, for the first time since the 1969 general elections, exercise their right to political participation under universal suffrage. The one-person one-vote.

law, which received President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s assent in February, is a milestone in the country’s gradual path to democratic governance after enduring military rule for over two decades and the long transition following the civil war.

And also, Somalia has systematically suppressed a free press that is vital to a vibrant

democracy. Eight journalists have been killed and as many have fled the country during

Mr. Mohamed’s term as the al-Shabab and the police behave with impunity, says

Amnesty International. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in 2016 that as many

as 59 media personnel were killed since the 1991 civil war.

21. Why is it important to enable only ‘Emergency and Scheduled Air travel’?

INTRO = Chief Ministers, notably Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra and Edappadi

Palaniswami in Tamil Nadu expressed apprehension about a premature resumption of

civil aviation, as the spread of COVID-19 is unrelenting, and quarantine monitoring has its

limits. Such as –

1 No consensus on health monitoring of passengers among States

a. The risks associated with domestic aviation have multiplied due to early

missteps in several States: mass gatherings, political events and consumer

crowding for panic buying have resulted in major transmission clusters.

b. The trajectory of fresh COVID-19 cases shows that this was aggravated by

the bungled response to the concerns of migrant labour, exposing

thousands of workers and their communities to infection.

2 Centre finding it difficult to relaunch domestic flights, with several of them being

cancelled on the first day after services were resumed.

3 Several delays of scheduled flights and all the other reasons leading to passenger

frustration.

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Thus comes, the NEED TO ENABLE –

Access to emergency air travel in a large country being a legitimate expectation, and a

targeted programme run efficiently can meet that need, without induced demand

produced by commercial flights. And taking steps such as –

1 1) It is essential, therefore, for States to adopt a coordinated approach on

quarantine and testing.

2 Going back to the drawing board to draft a plan for emergency travel, using

documentation and aggregation of such passengers may be the short-term option.

3 2) Travel choices, in the present phase, should be designed to discourage

optional journeys.

4 3) Passengers on all flights, including relief flights, could have a lower risk if

airlines and the government keep the middle seats vacant as decided by

the DGCA.

There is no reason to think that the pandemic has begun to wane. The global aviation map

shows that even market economies placing great emphasis on individual freedoms have

severely limited travel, making exceptions only for returning citizens. Thus, relaxing travel

must be preceded by focused containment measures and an agreed protocol for States.

22. Critically analyze the usage of Crude Oil revenues funding welfare in India?

INTRO = Centre taking a ‘cautious and conscious approach’ of ensuring a balance in fuel

prices and aims to use the resultant savings for welfare is on the face of it

unexceptionable. With global oil prices still about 45% lower than 2019 closing levels

despite coordinated supply cuts by major producers, India had an opportunity to pass on

the benefit to consumers and provide a fillip to becalmed consumption, with this move

implying Cons such as

That the ‘deregulated’ oil marketing companies chose not to reduce pump prices,

even when crude tumbled last month, could be attributed to their caution amid a

sharp slump in demand in the wake of the nationwide lockdown.

It is the government’s decision to raise Excise Duty on petrol and diesel for a second

time in less than two months that raises several concerns.

a. For one, subsequent to the latest increase the Centre’s tax revenue on a litre of

petrol sold by IOC in Delhi as on May 16 was 1.8 times the fuel’s freight inclusive

base price of18.28 and represented 46% of the final retail price of 71.26.

The fact that the government has consistently tinkered with the duty structure

through recent years of largely benign oil prices, undermines the benefits from

pricing deregulation that ought to have accrued to oil companies and consumers.

The government’s goal of maximizing revenue from fuel products to fund welfare

measures can only bear fruit if demand for petrol and diesel remains unaffected by

the continuing high costs.

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a. With curbs on inter-State road transport still in place, contracting automobile sales

unlikely to recover any time soon, job losses and pay cuts sure to shrink household

budgets, it is hard to see transport fuel demand rebounding to pre-lockdown levels

for at least one or two quarters.

Added to this is the fact that the Centre’s ambitious disinvestment target of 2.1-lakh

crore for this fiscal had included a stake sale in BPCL, and the petroleum products’

pricing approach gets even more complicated. With potential investors unlikely to be

impressed by the lack of autonomy in the sector, it is in the government’s interest not

to risk the health of the goose that lays the golden eggs.

23. ‘Locust Swarm’, how Is it a new dimension to other disasters facing India?

INTRO = Just last week, eastern India was battered by one of the most powerful cyclones

in decades and now, even as hundreds of lives are lost every day to the coronavirus,

another danger lurks on the nation’s west. A burgeoning locust swarm in Rajasthan,

Gujarat and even parts of Madhya Pradesh threatens to amplify into an agrarian disaster.

The desert locust, as a species, is the bane of agriculture. Monitoring and tackling

periodic outbreaks of the marauding insects are among the objectives of the Locust

Warning Organization (LWO) in Jodhpur.

There were 13 locust upsurges from 1964 to 1997, and after 2010 there was “no large

scale breeding” reported. Once a significant outbreak starts, it lasts for about two years,

and then there is a quietus for about eight year.

According to LWO, the swarm building up is potentially the “worst in decades”.

The swarms, which could be 1-2 km to 10-12 km long and 1.5-2 km wide, move around

100-150 km every day during daylight in the wind direction. Around late evening, they

settle around greenery and attack it.

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ORIGIN 1. The breeding locusts which threaten farming are an

indirect fallout of the warming Indian Ocean.

2. Last year, there were fears that the monsoon may fall

short because of an El Niño, or warming of the

Equatorial Pacific. However there was an extreme

flip.

3. By July it was evident that a positive Indian Ocean

Dipole, or relatively higher temperature in the

western Indian Ocean, was in the works.

4. This led to record-breaking rainfall in India — then a

cause for cheer — as well as in eastern Africa. But

moist African deserts precipitated locust breeding

and favorable rain-bearing winds aided their

transport towards India.

INEFECTIVE

MEASURES

1. While it is some comfort that there is now limited

standing crop in India.

2. The spread of the locust swamp to this extent owes

to coronavirus quarantines meaning that routine

coordination activities involving India, Pakistan and

Afghanistan regarding spraying pesticides were

halted.

NEW

DIMENSIONS TO

THE EXISTING

CRISIS ARE

1. A less highlighted aspect of global warming is that it may link

disparate disasters — floods, pandemics and pestilence —

amplifying the potency of each.

2. With forecasts being for good rains in Rajasthan, and,

paradoxically, conducive conditions for locust breeding during

the sowing season.

This makes it necessary to abandon any territorial blame game and focus on policies that will

ensure an equitable, sustainable future.

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24. Trump’s tirade against the social media platforms is but a part of the fake news ecosystem. Explain? INTRO = After Twitter flagged two of his posts as factually inaccurate, the President threatened to “strongly regulate” or “close down” all social media platforms.

Problems with the social media platforms – 1) Mr. Trump entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2015,

critics scorned him as a mere, inconsequential Twitter handle, for his acerbic posturing on the platform. But outrage is richly rewarding on digital platforms, as he went on to prove.

2) Twitter too was a beneficiary in the process. The crafty use of social media for incendiary politics the world over scraped the shine off these decentralised and unregulated platforms that were initially hailed as prodigiously democratising.

3) Controversies erupted in quick succession, including their role in genocides and election rigging.

4) These platforms have often declared their commitment to stop fake news, but any attempt to enforce content regulation comes with additional complications, with no one being an able enforcer in this perspective.

The misuse of social media to spread falsehoods that often incite violence has been a particularly tricky question. Bigger picture of the fake news ecosystem - The current conflict between the President and social media platforms is only a component of the ongoing wider debate in the U.S. on the nature of large tech companies. Big tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple have given rise to concerns of privacy, data misuse, political bias, monopoly behaviour, tax avoidance and national security. Ex – Facebook’s attempt to launch a digital currency, Libra, has triggered sovereignty concerns among nations. It had to pay $5 billion in fines to settle investigations into its misuse of data in the Cambridge Analytica controversy. Thus, it would be a pity if the trigger for the overhaul is one social media platform’s

attempt to call out the irresponsible statements of the world’s leaders, while this is all but

a part of a wider perspective which need looking into.

25. Relevance and Significance of Disaster Management Act (DMA), 2005 in the face of the

multiple Crises faced by Indian States?

INTRO = Recently, Assam faced a dual challenge. Where the state must have been having

a much lower COVID caseload compared to most states. But with migrants returning, the

number of COVID positive people in the state has almost doubled in less than a week. At

the same time, it experienced its first wave of flash floods last week. Triggered by the

cyclone Amphan, the floods have affected five districts. The situation drives home the

urgency of framing protocols and creating institutions to deal with multiple emergencies

simultaneously.

Epidemiologists and policy-makers now agree that the novel coronavirus is here to stay till

there is a vaccine or people develop herd immunity. Meanwhile, societies will continue to

be confronted with droughts, floods and weather vagaries. In some parts of the country,

the response of the disaster mechanisms to such exigencies has been compromised by

the imperative of dealing with the pandemic.

Ex - For instance, when cyclone Amphan hit West Bengal and Odisha, the two states

evacuated about 5 lakh people. In normal times, this would have been hailed as a feat in

disaster management. However, since the two state governments also had to

ensure social distancing, they fell short of cyclone relief centres. Such challenges are likely

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https://indianexpress.com/article/what-is/cyclone-amphan-6410113/






to increase with the onset of monsoon — synchronising flood control and relief with

COVID containment measures will be a test for several state governments.

Relevance & Significance of DMA, 2005 –

The Centre used the Disaster Management Act (DMA), 2005 to notify the COVID-

19 pandemic as a “disaster”. Enacted after the tsunami of 2004, the Act does not

mention a public health emergency.

A criticism - of the DMA is that it looks at disasters from an administrative and law and

order perspective, and does not underline their humanitarian aspect. It talks of mitigating

the “hardship of the community” but stops short of involving non-state actors in disaster

relief operations.

Way Forward - At the same time, the successes in COVID containment — in Kerala,

Odisha, parts of Rajasthan — owe much to civil society involvement. The salience of such

initiatives cannot be overstated. The country requires protocols to involve civil society in

myriad post-COVID roles — from alleviating the stress of migrants and arranging

quarantine to organising flood relief.

GS 1

GEOGRAPHY

1. What are ‘binary brown dwarfs’ and why are they in news? BACKGROUND = A group of international astrophysicists have identified cloud bands on the surface of Luhman 16A, one of a pair of binary brown dwarfs in the Vela constellation. They have used an idea put forth nearly two decades ago by Indian astrophysicist Sujan Sengupta, that the light emitted by a cloudy brown dwarf, or reflected off an extrasolar planet, will be polarised. He suggested that a polarimetric technique could serve as a potential tool to probe the environment of these objects.

Subsequently, many astronomers detected polarisation of brown dwarfs. But what is special in the newest study of Luhman 16 is that the researchers have found the actual structure of the clouds — that they form bands over one of the pair (Luhman 16A) of brown dwarfs.

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About Binary Brown Dwarfs Luhman 16 is a binary star system, the third closest system to the Sun after Alpha Centauri and Barnard’s star. At a distance of about 6.5 light years from the Sun, this pair of brown dwarfs referred to as Luhman 16A and Luhman 16B orbit each other, casting a dim light. Brown dwarfs are also called failed stars, because their masses are intermediate to the largest planets and the smallest main sequence stars. Their masses being too small, they are unable to sustain fusion of their hydrogen to produce energy. It is believed that some of the more massive brown dwarfs fuse deuterium or lithium and glow faintly. The faintness of the glow proved to be providential in finding the cloud bands. Unlike a star whose brightness would be too high, or an extrasolar planet orbiting a star, where the extra light from its star would have to be cut off to make the measurement, the light of the brown dwarfs was just right.

While, the polarisation of Luhman 16B can be interpreted to have its origin in the asymmetry caused by rotation-induced oblateness of the object, the polarisation of Luhman 16A needs inhomogeneous band-like cloud distribution.

Understanding the cloud system over a brown dwarf can shed light on the pressure, temperature and climate on the surface of the celestial body.

2. Explain the affect of cyclones on delaying Indian monsoons. And back it up with recent

evidences?

BACKGROUND = Uncertainty clouds the monsoon’s arrival over Kerala. While the official

date this year remains the June 5, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that

“conditions were favourable for onset” on June 1.

Origin –

The uncertainty is primarily due to a prominent weather model that hints at the

development of a cyclone in the Arabian Sea.

Three Categories –

Storms that develop in the sea begin as ‘Low Pressures’ and graduate to Depressions, Deep Depressions and then onto three categories of cyclone. Ex - The most recent being the Super Cyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal.

Another depression is likely to form in the Arabian Sea over the weekend but will turn towards Oman and not significantly influence the monsoon.

While such depressions are normal during the advent of monsoon and usually aid the monsoon’s advent and progress in India, a particularly strong storm can hinder the monsoon. Last year, cyclone Vayu that formed in the Arabian Sea stalled the monsoon after it entered Kerala on June 8.

HISTORY

3. Life History of the Historian, Harishankar Vasudevan?

BACKGROUND = One of the foremost scholars of Bengal, Harishankar Vasudevan, a

professional historian who was a specialist in Russian and European history, and Indo-

Russian relations, died here on Sunday after contracting COVID-19.

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1 He set up the Central Asia programme at Jamia Millia Islamia and worked as the chief of the Textbook Development Committee for the Social Sciences at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

2 He was involved in projects on Indo-Russian relations, and the Radiating Globalities project initiated by Gayatri Spivak of Columbia University.

3 At the Observer Research Foundation, he was evaluating the overlap between the ‘Look East’ and ‘Look Far East’ policies of India, and the relationship between the Greater Eurasia ideas of the Russian establishment and the Chinese establishment.

4 One of Prof. Vasudevan’s latest engagements was to initiate a process so that a museum-cum-research centre could be developed at the spacious south Kolkata residence of another early 20th century historian Ramesh Chandra (R.C.) Majumdar.

5 He has seminal works on Indo-Russian trade and military cooperation to his credit, and his works range from early European and 15th century Russian trader Afanasy Nikitin’s journey in India to the recent, as yet unpublished memoir of his mother titled Memoirs of a Malabar Lady.

INDIAN HERITAGE AND CULTURE 4. Give an account of the details of the latest GI Tags in the country?

BACKGROUND = Chak-Hao, which is a black rice variety of Manipur, Gorakhpur terracotta of Uttar Pradesh and Kashmir saffron have bagged the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

1) Chak-Hao, Manipur

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The application for Chak-Hao was filed by the Consortium of Producers of Chak-Hao (Black Rice), Manipur and was facilitated by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Manipur and the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC).

2) Gorakhpur Terracotta, Uttar Pradesh

In the case of Gorakhpur terracotta, the application was filed by Laxmi Terracotta

Murtikala Kendra in Uttar Pradesh. The terracotta work of Gorakhpur is a centuries-old traditional art form, where the

potters make various animal figures like, horses, elephants, camel, goat and ox with hand-applied ornamentation.

Some of the major products of craftsmanship include the Hauda elephants, Mahawatdar horse, deer, camel, five-faced Ganesha, singled-faced Ganesha, elephant table, chandeliers and hanging bells.

3) Kashmir saffron

Kashmir saffron, which is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) of Jammu

and Kashmir, has been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical

Indications Registry.

1 It is a scented glutinous rice which has been in cultivation in Manipur over centuries, is characterised by its special aroma.

2 It is normally eaten during community feasts and is served as Chak-Hao kheer.

3 This rice takes the longest cooking time of 40-45 minutes due to the presence of a fibrous bran layer and higher crude fibre content.

4 It has also been used by traditional medical practitioners as part of traditional medicine.

5 The traditional system of Chak-Hao cultivation is practised in some pockets of Manipur.

6 Direct sowing of pre-soaked seeds and also transplantation of rice seedlings raised in nurseries in puddled fields are widely practised in the State’s wetlands.

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1 The spice is grown in some regions of Kashmir, including Pulwama, Budgam,

Kishtwar and Srinagar.

2 Kashmir saffron is renowned globally as a spice.

3 It rejuvenates health and is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes.

4 It has been associated with traditional Kashmiri cuisine and represents the rich

cultural heritage of the region.

5 The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas,

natural deep-red colour, high aroma, bitter flavour, chemical-free processing, and

high quantity of crocin (colouring strength), safranal (flavour) and picrocrocin

(bitterness).

6 It is the only saffron in the world grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m AMSL

(above mean sea level).

The saffron available in Kashmir is of three types —

1 Lachha Saffron Stigmas just separated from the flowers, dried and joined

together in a bundle tied with a cloth thread.

2 Mongra Saffron Stigmas are detached from the flower, dried in the sun and

processed traditionally.

3 Guchhi Saffron Stigmas just separated from the flowers, dried and packed

loosely in air-tight containers.

Iran is the largest producer of saffron and India is a close competitor. With the GI tag,

Kashmir saffron would gain more prominence in the export market.

4) Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting

Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting, a ritualistic mural art was given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag with the application made by Sohrai Kala Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited.

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1

Sohrai Khovar is a traditional and ritualistic mural art being practised by local tribal

women during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available

soils of different colours in the area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.

2 The style features a profusion of lines, dots, animal figures and plants, often representing religious iconography.

3 Traditionally painted on the walls of mud houses, they are now seen on other

surfaces, too.

4 In recent years, the walls of important public places in Jharkhand, such as the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi, and the Hazaribagh and Tatanagar Railway Stations, among others, have been decorated with Sohrai-Khovar paintings.

5) Telangana’s Telia Rumal

Telangana’s Telia Rumal, an intricately designed handloom was given GI tag with the

application made by the Consortium of Puttapaka Handloom Cluster-IHDS.

1 Telia Rumal cloth involves intricate handmade work with cotton loom displaying a

variety of designs and motifs in three particular colours — red, black and white.

2 During the Nizam’s dynasty, Puttapaka, a small, backward village of the Telangana

region of Andhra Pradesh had about 20 families engaged in handloom weaving, who

were patronised by rich Muslim families and the Nizam rulers.

3 The officers working in the court of the Nizam would wear the Chituki Telia Rumal as a symbolic representation of status.

These were worn as a veil by princesses at the erstwhile court of the Nizam of Hyderabad

And as a turban cloth by Arabs in the Middle East.

4 In recent years, they are offered at the dargah of Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan.

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5. Debate around the Birthplace of ‘Purandara Dasa’, who is hailed as the father

figure of carnatic music?

BACKGROUND =

As ‘Purandara Vithala’ was the pen name of Purandara Dasa’s compositions, it was widely

believed that the mystic poet was born in Purandharagad, Maharashtra. However, many in

Malnad, Karnataka claimed that he hailed from this region. Because –

1) According to historians, Araga in Malnad was a buzzing commercial centre during the

Vijayanagar rule, the period to which the poet belonged to. Referring to the names of

the places in the vicinity of Keshavapura — Varthepura, Vithalanagundi,

Dasanagadde, it was argued that these places were inhabited by merchant

community influenced by the Vaishnava tradition to which Purandara Dasa belonged.

2) Prior to his initiation to Haridasa tradition, Purandara Dasa was a rich merchant and

was called as Srinivasa Nayaka. Referring to this, the proponents of the theory that

Puranadara Dasa was born in Malnad point out that ‘Nayaka’ title was attributed to

locally influential people, including wealthy merchants in Malnad during the

Vijayanagar rule.

3) Also many words that figured in Purandara Dasa’s compositions were used by people

in Malnad then in their day-to-day life.

To solve the mystery regarding the birthplace, the State government had directed Kannada

University, Hampi, to form an expert committee. After visiting Keshavapura and surrounding

places, the committee members said there was enough evidence to come to the conclusion

that the devotional poet was born here. The committee had recommended that further

research be conducted on the issue.

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GS 2 GOVERNANCE 1. How are Kerala state’s purse strings tightened by the centre and what steps can the states

take to handle the Covid-19 crisis? BACKGROUND = The health and economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the fiscal woes of the Kerala government, which is battling a grave resource crunch and a hostile political dispensation at the Centre. An alarming dip in the State’s own tax revenue, coupled with a delay and cut in Central transfers, have pushed the State to the edge of a financial precipice.

By neither releasing GST dues nor raising the borrowing limit, the Union government has squeezed Kerala’s options –

1) The Centre has not yet heeded the State’s demand for the release of GST compensation arrears of ₹5,000 crore.

2) The demand for raising the annual borrowing limit from 3% to 5% also remains a cry in the wilderness.

3) The same applies to the demand for enhancing the allocation for the National Health Mission to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.

4) The supply chain breaks due to the lockdown would result in a shortage of medicines and other essentials that reach Kerala from the neighbouring States.

5) Inadequacy in meeting the health care costs & the desperate need of Industrial financial assistance to limp back to normalcy.

Ordinance Chaos – 6) The government’s decision to effect a six-day cut in the salary of employees and teachers for

five months to cushion the impact of the pandemic’s impact ended in a legal tangle, with the High Court staying the decision for two months. The State government was forced to promulgate an ordinance to get legal sanction for the decision. However, the deduction would earn the exchequer only ₹500 crore a month and ₹2,500 crore in six months. Moreover, the government will have to return the amount once the crisis blows over.

Way Forward – The State is now looking forward for a substantial assistance from the Centre and also a

relaxation in borrowing curbs as a way forward. The only option left before the government is open market borrowing. Out of the sanctioned

limit of ₹24,500 crore for the current financial year, the State has already availed itself of ₹6,000 crore and is now gearing to up to borrow ₹1,000 crore to meet the committed expenditure for the month.

(The Reserve Bank of India has, however, cautioned the State against drawing huge sums from the market at exorbitant rates.Which also means that the government would have to tread cautiously while approaching the market).

In light of these situations is the Kerala government, hopeful of bringing in Telangana and other Congress-ruled States to the fold and pressing the Centre to accept demands.

2. Describe the States – Revenue losses amidst COVID-19? BACKGROUND = The lockdown caused 21 major States to suffer a collective revenue loss of about 97,100 crore for the month of April alone, according to estimates from India Ratings and Research (Fitch Group). Under the current circumstances there is a fair amount of uncertainty regarding the quantum and timings of the State governments’ receivables from the Union government. Moreover, their own sources of revenue have fallen to abysmally low levels.

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States such as Gujarat, Telangana, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu get more than 70%

of their revenue from their own sources, and will be the worst impacted. Maharashtra and Kerala also get almost 70% of their revenue on their own.

States’ own revenue mainly comes from seven heads — State Goods and Services Tax (SGST), State VAT, mostly on petroleum products, State excise, mostly on liquor, stamps and registration fees, vehicle tax, tax and duty on electricity, and own non-tax revenue.

Despite the lockdown, nearly 40% of the economy considered “essential” was allowed to remain operational, allowing some revenue to accrue to State governments under these heads, including 40% of SGST, 30% of State VAT, and 10% each of the electricity tax and non-tax revenues

“Things may improve somewhat in May 2020 due to the easing of some restrictions — allowing the liquor sale being the most prominent one,” said the report.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 3. Reasons for Iran’s Introduction of New Currency and the debate around it?

BACKGROUND = On 4th May, the Iranian Parliament essentially took that step, authorizing the replacement of the rial with another basic unit of currency called the toman. Each toman will be worth 10,000 rials under the new system, by basically slashing four zeros off rial’s face value. The change is the outcome of a draft Bill presented in early 2019. He noted that the currency has been devalued 3,500 times since 1971 and that Iran had no choice but to “save the face” of its national currency. The reasons being –

1) Since 2018, when the Trump administration repudiated the nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions on Iran, the value of Iran’s currency has fallen by roughly 60%.

2) The COVID-19 pandemic, which turned Iran into a regional epicentre of the disease, appears to have played a decisive role, contributing to a further devaluation of the rial since February.

Debate being –

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Support

4. How is ‘Barter for a Better Fiji’ a silver lining amidst the economic crisis brought on by

Covid-19? BACKGROUND = Karl Marx thought, about a century-and-a-half ago, that society moved from primitive communism, through various forms and structures of inequality, to communism proper. Economic systems moved forward, resolving their contradictions and creating new ones. Turns out he was, at best, only half right. But when the system isn’t enough, and the margins swell enough to flood the entire system, a different, more relatable form of exchange comes into place.

Current Scenario - In Fiji, and many other Pacific Island nations, COVID-19 has forced a return to the barter system. In epidemiological terms, the region has been relatively less affected by the pandemic: At the end of April, only six Pacific countries and territories between them have reported 260 cases and seven deaths. Yet, over 10 per cent of Fiji’s population — 1,00,000 people — are active on a Facebook group called “Barter for a Better Fiji”. Similar groups have cropped up in Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu. Why and How is it better – The tourism sector in the region is devastated, and people are out of work. Yet, in the

absence of money, many are sustaining themselves through work, and the dignity of social

exchanges that engenders.

1. Labour — whether you’re a carpenter, teacher or accountant — can be exchanged for

meat, food and other commodities.

2. Professional photography lessons are being exchanged for food.

The idea behind this network of exchanges is simple: An economic crisis need not descend to a humanitarian one. Thinking of what each member of society can offer, and negotiating the value of that good/service might not lead to a Utopian ideal of equality. But as the world struggles to treat people with decency amid a pandemic, it is at least a more moral equilibrium.

5. Write a comparative account of USA & EU’s social safety nets?

BACKGROUND = The COVID-19 pandemic is straining social safety nets across the globe — and underlining sharp differences in approach between wealthy societies such as the United States and Europe. In Europe, the collapse in business activity is triggering wage support programmes that are keeping millions on the job, for now. In contrast, in the United States more than 33.5 million people have applied for jobless benefits and the unemployment rate has soared to 14.7%.

That is a pattern seen in earlier economic downturns, particularly the global financial crisis and the Great Recession. Europe depends on existing programmes kicking in that pump money into people’s pockets. The U.S., on the other hand, relies on Congress taking action

Supporters Critiques

Supporters of the change said slashing the extra zeros would vastly simplify financial calculations in Iran by eliminating the need for Iranian shoppers to carry loads of rials to make purchases, which they must do now because of inflation. The rial’s exchange rate was 1,56,000 to the dollar.

Opponents argued that the plan was an added expense at a time when the government was already facing a budget deficit of between 30-50% for this coming fiscal year.

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by passing emergency stimulus programs, as the recent rescue package under Donald Trump.

USA EU

American welfare system is less generous and a recession can be harsher on workers. In downturns, U.S. employees can lose their health insurance if they lose their job and there’s also a greater risk of losing one’s home through foreclosure.

On the other hand, Europeans typically pay higher taxes, meaning they earn less in the good times. And is very generous and effective with the social security and Unemployment schemes.

Americans on unemployment were collecting an average of about $372 weekly before the coronavirus struck.

By comparison, Germany’s jobless benefit pays 60% of previous salary for a year. France provides up to 75% of the previous average daily wage for up to two years. Unemployment benefits in France are on average €1,200 ($1,320) per month.

And there’s Europe’s short-hours programmes, which pay most of worker salaries if companies put them on shorter hours through a temporary disruption. More than 10 million workers are being paid that way in Germany and about 12 million in France, helping hold eurozone unemployment to only a 0.1 percentage point increase in March over February, to 7.4%.

Nearly half of Americans receive health insurance through their employers, while another 34% get benefits through the government programs Medicare and Medicaid.

In Europe, universal health coverage is the rule, generally funded by payroll or other taxes.

In the U.S., Social Security contributions amounted to 6% of GDP in 2018, according to the OECD.

In France it was almost three times higher, at 16% of annual GDP, while in Germany it was just over 14%.

The U.S. tends to rank below average on measures of social support among the 37 countries of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, whose members are mostly developed democracies. The U.S. came last in people living in relative poverty, meaning living on half the median income or less, with 17.8%. Countries like Iceland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Finland have less than 6%.

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6. Describe Saudi Arabia’s economic situation. Along with the reasons for its double crisis

and way forward?

BACKGROUND = With oil price crash and COVID-19, Saudi Arabia confronts double crisis.

The kingdom has announced harsh austerity measures in response to economic woes -

under which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been trying to diversify its

economy away from oil and expand its regional influence through aggressive foreign

policy posturing, stepping down from its Yemen intervention.

The kingdom, 87% of whose budget revenues come from the petroleum sector, has

announced the following austerity measures to lift its economy from the worst crisis in

decades –

The kingdom has raised the value-added tax (VAT) along with cutting a cost of living allowance for government employees.

The allowance, which was introduced in 2018 to help workers tide over the effects of

austerity measures taken during the last oil crash, will be suspended as of June 1, and the

VAT, which was also rolled out in 2018, will be increased to 15% from 5% as of July 1.

Last month, the kingdom announced a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen after five years of war in the clearest signal that Riyadh seeks to depart from its expensive military intervention.

PROBLEMS

Amid the deteriorating situation, the Saudi government dipped its hands into the foreign reserves for meeting expenditures.

It is also raising billions in debt from the bond market. The pandemic has aggravated the crisis with most economic activities suspended under a curfew. With the IMF forecasting the country’s GDP will fall 2.3% this year.

CAUSE The situation in Saudi Arabia has been deteriorating well

before the pandemic. The recent oil problem is almost entirely self-inflicted. Instead of engaging with Russia to discuss how they could consider new policies with regard to the OPEC-plus partnership, the Crown Prince very impulsively rejected Russia and started a completely unwinnable oil war, which has wounded not just Saudi Arabia, but also a very large number of countries in the region who are dependent on their oil revenues coupled along with the subsequent Covid-19 situation and economic woes.

WAY FORWARD Radical Domestic and Foreign Policy Decisions 1. Domestically, the kingdom has to cut expenditure,

train its youth for new jobs, build a more accountable and responsive political order .

2. And with regard to the foreign policy, the first step should be the engagement with Iran.

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7. What are EU’s new measures to salvage tourism?

BACKGROUND = In the EU, 10% of economic output (GDP) is generated by the tourism industry. In some countries, including Greece or Malta, the share of the travel industry in GDP is even higher at 20-25%. Once the coronavirus pandemic tapers off, people are likely to take vacations closer to home with -

1) A common health concept which would allow for a “coronavirus health passport” to be issued to tourists and tour operators.

2) Rent rooms to travelers from neighboring countries and, if possible, from regions where the coronavirus infection rate is low.

3) Hotel owners and operators of private-access beaches in Italy are developing unusual concepts to ensure potential holidaymakers can keep their distance, including plexiglas dividers on the beach.

4) and hotels that are only partially occupied, with one-course-only menus served at tables set 2 meters (about 6 feet) apart.

5) Greece is pondering a kind of tourism corridor from Western Europe. Special planes would fly tourists who can prove their health to verified and coronavirus-free holiday resorts

6) Belgium is considering access cards for beaches. Other tourism ministers want to advertise holidays in the countryside in order to relieve hotel facilities and beaches.

However, it remains completely unclear when the EU interior ministers will agree on a coordinated plan for opening the borders for tourists. First, the individual states would have to lift domestic travel restrictions, making travel to neighboring regions possible. Then, travel between neighboring states would have to become possible, and lastly, intra-European air traffic. No one knows when tourist travel to Asia, the US and other parts of the world will be possible again.

Nevertheless, It’s not about returning to the way things were as soon as possible, but

about all the necessary security. Thus,demand that support be given to tourism so that it

can lead the way in rebuilding the economy.

8. The China-Taiwan-India triad about Taiwan’s WHO participation? BACKGROUND = Taiwan’s status which has limited its ability to share information about COVID-19 and its arrangement with the WHO was “far from satisfactory”. Calling for “full participation” in the WHO and for Taiwan to interact with countries on “an equal basis”, by the Taiwan Government.

China’s Rebut –

China opposed any move by Taiwan stating that - Taiwan was looking to “hype up its participation in the World Health Organization (WHO)” while “their real intention is to solicit foreign support and seek independence under the pretext of the pandemic”. And mentioning that this move means “undermining the political foundation for the region’s participation in the WHA (World Health Assembly)”.

India’s Role –

Ahead of next week’s WHA meet, India has found itself in the middle as it takes over as chairperson of the executive board.

While we are among the 179 of the 193 member states of the UN that do not maintain any diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The U.S. has been pushing for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHA, which will require a simple majority from member states.

The Final view for this news in progress for now being, to take a decision depending on

how the agenda evolves.

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9. Write a note on the changed dynamic along the Indo-China border?

BACKGROUND = Indian and Chinese troops have been involved in as many as four incidents

in recent weeks along the undefined LAC (Line of actual Control). With more intensified

patrolling on both sides, the open space available has shrunk, so face-to-face situations will

occur; what is different is the aggressive manner in which Chinese troops behaved and

prevented Indian troops from patrolling. Jostling and fisticuffs were a cause for concern

because they could lead to unintended consequences or escalation, there is a larger

pattern that the Chinese are becoming more assertive in pursuing their territorial claims in

contested areas, that is happening both in the South China Sea and along the India China

border.

The 4 Incidents were –

1) Chinese state media said the People’s Liberation Army was “tightening control” in one of

the flashpoints in Galwan Valley in the western sector, after it accused India of

“unilaterally” changing the status quo by “illegal construction”.

2) A build-up has also been reported in Demchok in Ladakh.

3) Stand-off incidents on May 5 near the Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh.

4) And on May 9 in Naku La in North Sikkim

Face-off incidents occur routinely in the summer months when both sides are able to more

frequently patrol up to their respective perceptions of the LAC. Detailed protocols are in

place for troops to handle such incidents. According to the 2005 protocol on modalities for

implementing confidence-building measures & The 2013 Border Defence Cooperation

Agreement said patrols –

“Shall neither use force or threaten to use force” and “both sides shall treat each other with

courtesy and refrain from any provocative actions”.

“Shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no common

understanding” of the LAC.

Why the Face-offs –

These incidents were more likely fuelled by the on-the-ground dynamic than other

geopolitical factors or tensions, such as India’s tightening of FDI from China or the

COVID-19 pandemic.

Now –

India has upgraded its infrastructure, letting troops beef up patrol in areas where China

has established a more frequent presence. And thus is seeking to restore a balance, to the

extent that it is possible given enduring advantages of terrain and logistics on the Chinese

side, by creating road and air connectivity to the LAC. The PLA is rattled by this. With both

sides now engaged in forward policies and convinced of their right to do so, it makes for an

explosive mix.

10. Describe China’s efforts at planning Security Law for Hong Kong?

BACKGROUND = Parliament to discuss a Bill on ‘improving the legal system and

enforcement mechanisms’, that could limit opposition activity in Hong Kong.

Such a move has long been under consideration but was hastened by months of anti-

government protests last year in the former British colony that was handed over to

Chinese rule in 1997. Such legislation was last proposed in 2003 under Article 23 of the

Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-Constitution, bringing hundreds of thousands of the territory’s

citizens out in protest.

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The proposal was withdrawn by the government but Beijing has increasingly pushed for

measures such as punishment for disrespecting the Chinese national flag and anthem and

increased pro-China patriotic-themed education in schools. Opposition in Hong Kong’s

Legislative Council, however, made it unlikely such a Bill could pass at the local level.

Although this news is still in progress, Counterclaims persist that Beijing is chipping away at

the semi-autonomous territory’s rights to assembly and free speech that greatly exceed

those permitted by the ruling Communist Party in mainland China.

China's proposed legislation could lead to U.S. sanctions. “It looks like, with this national security law, they’re going to basically take over Hong Kong and if they do ... Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo will likely be unable to certify that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy and if that happens there will be sanctions that will be imposed on Hong Kong and China,” National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told.

11. Explain OST (Open Skies Treaty) and its current relevance? BACKGROUND = The idea behind the OST, which is an agreement that allows countries to monitor signatories’ arms development by conducting surveillance flights over each other’s territories. First proposed in the early years of the Cold War by former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, came to fruition decades later and was signed in 1992, during the George H.W. Bush presidency and after the Soviet Union had collapsed. The OST came into effect in 2002 under the George W. Bush administration and it allows its 34 signatories to conduct unarmed reconnaissance flights over the territory of treaty countries. The U.S. has used the treaty more intensively than Russia. Between 2002 and 2016, the U.S. flew 196 flights over Russia (in addition to having imagery from other countries) compared to the 71 flights flown by Russia. NOW –

The U.S. has given notice that it will exit the Open Skies Treaty (OST) as – 1) Russia has “continuously and flagrantly” violated it. 2) Along with Chris Ford, a senior U.S. diplomat for non-proliferation, also cited changes to

the security environment as a reason for the U.S. exiting the OST. The U.S.’s exit last year from another arms deal - the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces

(INF) treaty — as well as its imminent departure from the OST has raised the strong

possibility that the Trump administration may not renew the New Start Treaty

12. Give an account of the West Asia’s biggest proxy war, where Turkey emerges as a

kingmaker in Libya?

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BACKGROUND = Over a year ago, Mr. Haftar began an offensive to capture Tripoli and appeared to have the upper hand in the conflict, positioning his foreign sponsors, including Russia, to play a major role in Libya’s future. But in a recent change of events, Libyan fighters backed by Turkish firepower captured a major air base west of Tripoli, the capital, used drones to destroy newly arrived Russian air defense batteries, and pressed their offensive by ousting Mr. Haftar’s forces from a key town south of Tripoli. Thus, a string of victories by Turkish-backed forces in western Libya this week dealt a heavy blow to the ambitions of aspiring strongman Khalifa Haftar and signaled the arrival of Turkey as a potentially decisive force among the foreign powers battling for supremacy in West Asia’s biggest proxy war. Evident through events unfolding such as –

1) Triumphant soldiers loyal to the government in Tripoli paraded through central Libya with a captured air defense system, built by Russia and financed by the United Arab Emirates, in a pointed humiliation of Mr. Haftar’s two most powerful foreign backers.

2) Mr. Haftar’s forces were driven out of Asaba, a small but strategic town they had held 60 miles outside the capital.

3) Eight Soviet-era jets, escorted by two newer Russian fighter jets, had flown from a base in Syria to boost Mr. Haftar. With it being unclear, as to if the jets were Russian or Syrian. Any overt Russian military action would be a significant escalation for Moscow, which until now has exerted influence in Libya through mercenaries from the Wagner Group, the private army with close links to the Kremlin that played a key role in Mr. Haftar’s advance on Tripoli last fall. The European official said that the jets were most likely a signal from the Kremlin to Turkey to slow down its offensive and turn to a negotiated solution. In reality, Mr. Haftar’s next move will be determined by his sponsors in Moscow, Cairo and

Abu Dhabi, where the leaders, who have backed his 14-month-old assault on Tripoli which

has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced 400,000 people, were scrambling to assess

their support for a stubborn ally who has repeatedly spurned political talks.

SOCIAL JUSTICE 13. How is Coronavirus pulling millions back into poverty?

BACKGROUND = The World Bank says that for the first time since 1998, global poverty rates will rise. By the end of the year, 8% of the world’s population — half a billion people — could be pushed into destitution, largely because of the wave of unemployment brought by virus lockdowns.

While everyone will suffer, the developing world will be hardest hit. The World Bank estimates that sub-Saharan Africa will see its first recession in 25 years, with nearly half of all jobs lost across the continent. South Asia will likely experience its worst economic performance in 40 years.

Worst hit are the developing economies –

But some of the biggest gains were made in India, where 210 million people were lifted out of poverty from 2006 to 2016, according to the UN. While since 2000, Bangladesh lifted 33 million people — 10% of its population — out of poverty with major risk of pulling back being observed due to people working in the informal sector, which employs 2 billion people who have no access to benefits like unemployment assistance or health care. Countries like Bangladesh, which spent heavily on programmes to improve education and provide health care, which help lift families out of destitution, may now be too cash-strapped to fund them.

Famines that once plagued South Asia are now vanishingly rare, the population less

susceptible to disease and starvation. But that progress may be reversed, experts worry,

and funding for anti-poverty programmes may be cut as governments struggle with

stagnant growth rates or economic contractions as the world heads for a recession.

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14. Experts and Social Activists suggestions to handle workers crisis during Covid-19 fallout?

INTRO = A new Urban Employment Guarantee Act is needed to complement the existing rural jobs scheme during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, said a group of development activists and economists. While Social activists urge Centre to expand MGNREGA funding and work limits such as –

1 Request for MGNREGA funding to be increased to at least ₹1 lakh crore for

the next three months, noting that the scheme already has the infrastructure

in place to respond to the unprecedented unemployment crisis.

2 The group has also recommended relaxation of the 100 days of work per

household limit, suggesting that all individuals who wish to work under the

scheme be given employment for as many days as needed, up to the full year.

3 Given that a large number of migrants returning from cities to villages as a

result of the lockdown would desperately need work but may not have

MGNREGA job cards, the group suggested that anyone wanting work should

be given a job, with card registration made available on site.

4 The economists also asked for full minimum wages in cash, as well as dry rations, to be paid to workers within seven days rather than the current 15-day limit, so that the scheme can meet the needs of people.

5 Biometric based payment systems should be avoided for now, they said,

noting that bank account payments would only cause overcrowding in rural

banks.

6 People prevented from working during the pandemic due to medical

advisories including those aged over 50, disabled and sick, and pregnant

women, should be paid full wages for the duration of the restrictions.

The signatories also urged that rather than stopping MGNREGA work throughout districts

declared to be in the red zone, decisions should instead be taken block-wise.

15. Why is Jharkhand an ideal – for states facing spectre of massive unemployment with the

arrival of migrant workers?

BACKGROUND = Faced with the possibility of a steep rise in the rate of unemployment in villages following the arrival of large-scale stranded migrant workers from other States, the Jharkhand government on Monday launched three labour intensive programmes to restore the rural economy. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CIME) data, the State is reeling under severe joblessness with unemployment rate pegged at 47.1% — double that of the national average (23.5%). The arrival of an estimated 5 lakh to 6 lakh migrant workers is likely to worsen the situation.

These three schemes have been devised in convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Which are –

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SCHEME BENEFITS

1) 1. Birsa Harit Gram Yojana (BHGY)

The BHGY is envisaged at bringing over two lakh acres of unused government fallow land under the afforestation programme. About five lakh families will be provided 100 fruit-bearing plants. The initial plantation, maintenance, land work and afforestation will be taken up through MNREGA.

2) 2. Neelambar Pitambar JAL Sammridhi Yojana (NPJSY)

The government is aiming at creating agro-water storage units by arresting rainwater and runaway groundwater. Nearly 5 lakh acre of cultivable land can be irrigated through the initiative, said the State government. An estimated 10 crore person days will be generated through the scheme in the next 4-5 years.

3) 3. Veer Sahid Poto Ho Khel Vikas Scheme (VSPHKVS)

Under VSPHKVS, as many as 5,000 sports grounds will be developed across the State. The government hopes to generate one crore person days through the scheme in the current financial year.

16. Give a profile picture of the nutrition status in India?

BACKGROUND = India is among 88 countries that are likely to miss global nutrition targets by 2025, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2020 released recently. It also identified the country as one with the highest rates of domestic inequalities in malnutrition. Nutritional Targets – In 2012, the World Health Assembly identified six nutrition targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition to be met by 2025. These require governments to –

1) Reduce stunting by 40% in children under five 2) And prevalence of anaemia by 50% among women in the age group of 19-49, 3) Ensure 30% reduction in low-birth weight 4) And no increase in childhood overweight 5) Increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months up to at least 50% 6) And reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%.

India’s status with the targets – According to the Global Nutrition Report 2020, India will miss targets for all four nutritional indicators for which there is data available —

1) stunting among under-five children 37.9% of children under five are stunted and 20.8% are wasted, compared with the Asia average of 22.7% and 9.4% respectively.

2) anaemia among women of reproductive age 3) childhood overweight 4) and exclusive breastfeeding.

One in two women of reproductive age is anaemic, while at the same time the rate of overweight and obesity continues to rise, affecting almost a fifth of the adults, at 21.6% of women and 17.8% of men. India is identified as among the three worst countries, along with Nigeria and Indonesia, for steep within-country disparities on stunting, where the levels varied four-fold across communities.

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Coming at a time the world is battling COVID-19, which has exposed different forms of

socio-economic inequities, the authors have called for promoting equity to address

malnutrition.

17. Explain the What and Why of Chattisgarh’s “Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyaya

Yojana”?

BACKGROUND = Farmers in Chhattisgarh would get up to 13,000 an acre a year under a

new income support programme announced by the State government, the Rajiv Gandhi

Kisan Nyaya Yojana.

Characteristics In the first instalment 1,500 crore would be distributed among

18 lakh farmers, with more than 80% of them bring small and

marginal farmers.

The scheme would cover rice, maize and sugarcane farmers to

begin with, and would expand to other crops later. Rice and

maize farmers would get 10,000 an acre, while sugarcane

farmers would get 13,000.

The money would be distributed in four instalments.

Advantages This will help them through the agricultural cycle and hopefully

help with extension activities. Where Chhattisgarh gets more

than 50 inches of rain annually, but its irrigation facilities need

improvement and most farmers should be able to cultivate for

more than only one season.

The additional income to farmers would increase rural demand

and also act as a stimulus for the State’s economy.

The State’s attempt was to meet the standards set by the

Swaminathan Commission that farmers must get 150 percent of

their cost of production as MSP.

18. Describe all about the launch of the ‘1st Scheme for returning migrants’ by the

government of Madhya Pradesh?

BACKGROUND = Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced

the launch of the ‘Rozgar Setu’ scheme. Which entails –

1) The State is the first to devise such a work plan. We are surveying skilled workers who

were employed at industries elsewhere, but have now returned and are in the process of

identifying the skills they possess.

2) After such workers requiring employment are identified, the government will contact

factory, workshop owners and contractors overseeing infrastructure projects such as

road and bridge construction.

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This would fulfill the manpower requirement of industries as well as provide

employment to workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Prelims

Centre’s ‘Swamitva yojana’ - under which rural areas would be surveyed to help prepare

land records. The rural population will be given land ownership records as proof of their

right over plots of land.

SNIPPETS

GOVERNANCE

1. States with high swine flu rate record most COVID-19 cases


2. Navy dispatched Basic Amenities and Medical facilities to Maldives and UAE Two ships, INS Jalashwa and INS Magar are on their way to Male under Operation

“Samudra Setu” to repatriate stranded Indian citizens. While, Defence sources confirmed that INS Shardul and INS Airavat had set sail to the UAE.

INS Jalashwa can normally accommodate 1,000 people but will take 800. The other three amphibious ships are landing ship tanks (LST) and can normally accommodate 500 people each but the capacity will be reduced to 300-350.

The Navy said the ships had been suitably provisioned for the evacuation and those

evacuated would be provided basic amenities and medical facilities during the sea

passage.

3. Iran’s Economic Storm Tehran seeks to strike a balance between protecting the economy, combating the

coronavirus and deepening its strategic interests. With Iran being the hardest hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in West Asia, is struggling to cope with several challenges at the same time — from the crippling U.S. sanctions and a collapsing economy to falling oil prices and a severe public health crisis.

Last year it’s GDP shrunk by 7.6% and Price of Brent crude, in the international benchmark, crashed by 50% in March.

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The country has seen over 1,16,000 infections and 6,900 deaths. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that Iran’s economy will contract by 6% this year. Inflation, which hit 41% last year, is expected to be around 34.2% this year.

Grappled with hyperinflation, Iran has already introduced a new currency, toman — 1 toman will be worth 10,000 riyals.

Aggressive Foreign Policy –

And as the Iran economy is used to prolonged crises in the past, mainly due to the international sanctions, its leaders are trying to turn the crisis into an opportunity to mobilise power by attacking their favourite rival — the U.S.

The Iranian government has blamed the U.S. sanctions for the severity of the virus attack on its people. Iran’s proxies in Iraq continued to target U.S. forces, killing two Americans on March 11. In the Gulf, the Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out operations, harassing the American Navy, which prompted Mr. Trump to authorise the Navy to shoot down Iranian boats. Last month, Iran said it launched a military satellite into the orbit.

This fits well into a time-tested strategy of taking a more aggressive foreign policy and

whipping up nationalist sentiments whenever the domestic crisis worsens.

4. Interventions related to COVID-19 around the world

While Chinese President- Xi Jinping pledges to make any potential vaccine developed by the country a ‘global public good’ along with $2 Billion in aid.

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5. Japan lifts state of emergency

Mr. Abe said that the total amount of stimulus from two economic packages would exceed

200 trillion yen ($1.86 trillion) but it would still take considerable time to get back to

normal life while controlling infection risks.

But he also praised the “Japan model”, in which it brought the outbreak under control in six weeks without strict lockdowns imposed in other countries. Japan has escaped an explosive outbreak with more than 16,600 infections and 839 deaths so far, according to NHK public broadcaster.

However, he warned that, “in the worst case scenario, there may be the unfortunate possibility of reimposing the state of emergency if the speed of infections rises again”.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

6. 126 lakh tonnes of food grains given to States: FCI This is almost equal to two-and-a-half months’ supply in normal situations

Of the five zones in the country, the northern zone was given the maximum of 39.95 lakh

tonnnes; southern zone – 29.18 lakh tonnes, followed by the east – 28.33 lakh tonnes; west – 23.03 lakh tonnes and the northeast – 5.63 lakh tonnes.

7. Poor find it hard to access the relief scheme money.

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Of those who did go to the bank, 80% were able to successfully withdraw cash. One in five returned without any money; reasons included that the bank was shut or their accounts showed zero balance. Only five respondents were able to access money outside their banks through ATMs, banking correspondents or customer service centres.

The surveys showed that the foodgrain portion of the relief scheme may have had better reach among intended beneficiaries, with 96% of surveyed households having received their ration for April.

8. Major Suman Gawani chosen for UN award

Major Suman Gawani of the Indian Army, who served as a women peacekeeper with the

United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in 2019, has been selected for the

prestigious United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the year Award.

Major Gawani was the principal focal point of contact for gender issues for military

observers in the mission, encouraging participation in joint military patrols to maintain

gender balance, irrespective of the hardships under extreme field conditions

Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer, will also receive the award.

GS 3

BIODIVERSITY

1. Write a note on the recent rise on the tiger population in the Sunderbans? BACKGROUND = The Sunderbans delta, spread over India and Bangladesh, is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers. The Sunderban mangrove forest is spread over 2,585 sq. km and includes the Sundarban Tiger Reserve and the 24 Parganas (South) Division.

The latest estimation of tiger numbers in the Indian Sunderbans indicate an increase in the population of big cats. According to the West Bengal Forest Department, the tiger count for the year 2019-20 rose to 96, from 88 in 2018-19. Estimation of the number of tigers in the Sunderbans, a world heritage as well as a Ramsar

site, has always been a challenge because of the difficult terrain that comprises dense

mangrove forests, with creeks and rivulets, and floods twice a day during the high tides.

2. Localizing ‘Pinanga Andamanensis’ a rare palm from Andaman. What and why?

BACKGROUND = Rare palm from Andamans gets second home in India, where the critically

endangered species started flowering at Thiruvananthapuram-based JNTBGRI (the

Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute).

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HISTORY

NOW –

At first glance, Pinanga andamanensis — which at one point was written off as extinct — resembles the areca palm to which it is closely related.

But its entire population of some 600 specimens naturally occurs only in a tiny, evergreen forest pocket in South Andaman’s Mount Harriet National Park.

By conserving the germplasm on the Indian mainland, JNTBGRI can ensure its continued survival in the event of its minuscule original home getting wiped out by, say, a natural calamity in the era of climate change.

The name Pinanga is derived from ‘Penang’, the modern-day Malaysian state. “Penang itself

has its origins in ‘Pulau Pinang’, which means ‘Island of the Areca Nut Palm.

1 Pinanga andamanensis has a colourful history.

2 It was originally described by the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in

1934.

3 His description was based on an old herbarium specimen collected by

E.H. Man, a late-19th century assistant superintendent in the Andaman

administration.

4 After that first identification, it was thought to be extinct till 1992.

5 In 1992, Mr. Mathew, who was with the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) at

the time, and his BSI colleague, the late K.C. Malick, encountered a few

specimens at the Mount Harriet National Park.

6 Such a small gene pool means the species is vulnerable to natural

calamities such as cyclones, earthquakes, Mr. Mathew said.

7 After he moved to the JNTBGRI, five or six specimens were introduced at the Field Gene Bank at Palode in 1994. Unfortunately, rampaging wild elephants ate them all up in 2012.

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3. Cyclone Amphan’s attack on ‘Howrah’s Botanical Garden’.

Inside the walled gates of the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden at

Shibpur in Howrah district, We have lost nearly 1,000 trees, including some notable and

rare species, statement made by Botanical Survey of India, BSI.

Among the rare trees that have fallen include the only full-grown kalpabriksha (Adansonia

digitata) tree in the garden, the mad tree (Pterygota alata var. irregularis), the para rubber

tree (Hevea brasiliensis), the Malabar chestnut (Pachira insignis), the Chir pine (Pinus

roxburghii), and several century-old mahogany trees (Swietenia mahagoni) in the garden’s

famous Mahogany Avenue.

Amid all the devastation, the “Great Banyan Tree” on the western edge of garden offered

the only silver lining. The tree, which has an enormous canopy, has survived with some

damage. The 250-year-old tree, which predates the botanic garden, has a canopy of over

1.5 hectares. It is supported by over 4,000 prop roots.

4. What is a ‘Charru Mussel’ and how is it damaging the Kerala’s backwaters?

BACKGROUND = An invasive mussel native to the South and Central American coasts is

spreading quickly in the backwaters of Kerala, elbowing out other mussel and clam

species and threatening the livelihoods of fishermen engaged in molluscan fisheries.

1. Externally, the Charru mussel resembles the green and brown mussels (kallummekkaya

in Malayalam), but is much smaller in size. Its colour varies from black to brown, purple

or dark green.

2. The rapid spread of the Charru mussel (Mytella strigata) may have been

triggered by Cyclone Ockhi which struck the region in 2017.

3. Surveys show the presence of the Charru mussel in the Kadinamkulam,

Paravur, Edava-Nadayara, Ashtamudi, Kayamkulam, Vembanad, Chettuva and

Ponnani estuaries/backwaters.

4. Ashtamudi Lake, a Ramsar site in Kollam district, remains the worst-hit. Here

the Charru mussel had established breeding populations in 2018 and 2019,

acquiring the moniker ‘varathan kakka’ (alien mollusc).

5. The short-necked clam fisheries in the lake had obtained an eco label from

the Marine Stewardship Council and about 3,000 people are dependent on

fisheries here. In such a scenario, the fast-breeding Charru mussel could be

seen as a ‘pest’.

6. With a population as high as 11,384 per sq metre here, it has replaced the

Asian green mussel (Perna viridis) and the edible oyster Magallana bilineata

(known locally as muringa).

7. In many areas, this invasive species has smothered beds of the short-neck clam (manja

kakka).

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In all probability, the mussel reached the Indian shores attached to ship hulls or as larval forms in ballast water discharges. Cyclone Ockhi may have simply speeded up their invasion of inland waters. Though this smaller mussel is edible, the overall economic loss and impact on biodiversity is much bigger, it is pointed out. In this scenario, there is an urgent need to identify the presence of the Charru mussel in other parts of India by locating the pathways of introduction.

5. Explain the loss involving the dredging activity at Kumbabhishekham mudflat in Andhra Pradesh?

BACKGROUND = The Forest Department has directed GMR Energy Limited to stop dredging

activity in the Kumbabhishekham mudflat with immediate effect and also ordered the

removal of the bund around the mangrove cover adjacent to the company’s 220 MW barge-

mounted power plant on the Kakinada coast.

On the site, a bund has been erected on the mudflat front. The inflow of water and sand

being dredged from the mudflat into the mangrove cover has been recorded.

The loss involving are –

The threat to the mudflat and the mangrove cover and destruction of the prime habitat of birds — endangered Great knots (Calidris tenuirostris), and Indian skimmers (Rynchops albiocollis), which are listed as a vulnerable species.

The bund is an immediate threat, impacting the soil topography and salinity on the site being levelled with the dredged material.

For Prelims –

Bund - The definition of a bund is stone or earth formed into an embankment to hold back

water.


6. What does India’s core sector contraction mean to the wider IIP? BACKGROUND = March core sector output slumps 6.5%, indicating Sharper contraction in IIP. The index of eight core sector industries, which form 40% of the weight of items included in the broader Index of Industrial Production (IIP), reflected a contraction in key parts of the economy in March.

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S.No Core industries % of

change

1. Steel output 13% decline

2 Electricity generation 7% decline

3 Cement production 25% decline

4 Natural gas production 15% decline

5 Fertiliser production 12% decline

6 Crude oil production 5.5% decline

7 Coal (only core sector which saw some growth) 4% increase

8 Refinery production 0.5% decline

7. How and why has SBI extended the moratorium to NBFC’s?

WHY = At end March, following the nationwide lockdown, the RBI had allowed banks to extend three-month repayment moratorium to their term loan customers without classifying them as non-performing assets. While the banks had extended the facility to the retail borrowers, they were reluctant to extend the same to the NBFCs, including housing finance companies and micro-finance institutions. Bank funding is a key source of liquidity for the NBFCs. As a result, NBFCs that had extended the benefit to their customers but were not granted one from the banks, were facing a severe liquidity crunch. Rating agency Crisil had said that the NBFCs rated by the agency would face a ₹1.75 lakh-crore debt obligation maturing by June end. HOW

Thus, in a move that could give a huge relief to the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) facing a cash crunch, the State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to extend loan moratorium to these entities.

The SBI will assesss the cash flow situation of the NBFCs before deciding on extending the facility. If an entity had a negative cash flow, that is, if repayments or inflows to the NBFC were lower than the outflow, only then the facility would be extended.

8. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund’s Temporary Suspension

Temporary suspension of fresh investments in two of its debt schemes — Medium Term

Plan and Credit Risk Fund, due to the significant gains in the two schemes, which would be

realised by existing investors, and hence has stopped fresh investments so that the gains

are not diluted for existing investors.

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While the Medium Term plan is an open-ended debt scheme that invests in instruments

with a maturity period between three to four years, the Credit Risk Fund predominantly

invests in AA and below rated corporate bonds.

It is believed that the move is to ensure that the incremental gains from some of the

written down assets go to the existing investors while barring new investors that

invest just eyeing the recent gains.

While, the Franklin Templeton MF announcement was just a one-off instance and not an industry-wide phenomenon. With rather, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic having significantly affected the cash flows of most corporates that, in turn, has impacted the payment capabilities especially those with a lower rating. Further, given the bleak outlook, the market for low rated papers has also become illiquid.

9. Give a detailed account of India’s to be 4th recession?

BACKGROUND = India's fourth recession since independence, the first since

liberalization and perhaps the worst to date, is here, CRISIL predicted the economy to

shrink by 5 per cent in the current fiscal because of coronavirus lockdown. If it happens

this will be the 4th time the country will course through a recession. Incidentally, the

past 3 recessions seen in 1958, 1966 and 1980 were all tied to one reason –

unfavorable monsoon – which broke the economy’s back.

Research firms Crisil and SBI Research were convinced that FY21 GDP will shrink 5%

and 6.8%, respectively .This time however agriculture accounted for 17% of the GDP.

But even if agriculture clocks its trend line 2.5% growth, non agricultural GDP is likely to

contract 6%, leaving the economy in the lurch.

The recession staring at us today is different. Because –

1) Agriculture could soften the blow this time by growing near its trend rate, assuming a

normal monsoon.

2) The pandemic induced lockdown has affected most non-agriculture sectors.

3) The global disruption has upended whatever opportunities India had on the exports

front.

He believes it is a long road to recovery and the famed 7-8% growth is at least three

years away.

The lockdown extension, higher economic costs and an economic package that lacked

muscle derailed economic activity, the costs of which have begun to show up in hard

numbers. Because of which April could well be the worst performing month for India

this fiscal.

States Status –

The States could lose a staggering ` 30 lakh crore, with red zones taking maximum loss

of 50%. Include orange zones and the loss nearly doubles to 90%. Taken together, the

top 10 states, where much of red and orange zones exist, account for 75% of total GDP P

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loss with Maharashtra contributing 15.6% of total loss followed by TN (9.4%) and

Gujarat (8.6%). Meanwhile, Q4 GDP is likely to print at 1.2% (`1.4 lakh crore loss in

absolute numbers) taking FY20 growth rate to 4.2%, which sounds far respectable than

FY21 projections.

10. Give an account of the National Statistical Office’s analysis of the Financial Year 2020’s

economic growth?

BACKGROUND = GDP growth slows to a 11-year low of 4.2%, Q4 slumps to 3.1%,

according to provisional estimates released by the National Statistical Office.

Agriculture and government expenditure have been the saviours.

Agricultural output and the mining sector picked up steam in the fourth quarter, growing at rates of 5.9% and 5.2% respectively, even while manufacturing contracted further, with output shrinking by 1.4%. Public administration, defense and other services grew at 10.1%.

The most disturbing news is that the three components of demand have fallen — consumption demand has slowed, while investments and exports are both in negative territory.

Also concerns regarding, CGA’s (Controller General of Accounts) data indicating that the Centre’s gross tax revenues have contracted by 3.4% in 2019-20.

And Fiscal deficit has increased to 4.6% of GDP, well above the revised estimate of 3.8%. The increase in the fiscal deficit has been mainly on account of shortfall in revenue collection during 2019-20.

Point to note here is that, In the five years before the 2008 crisis, we maintained an 8%

GDP growth, so the capacity to endure and recover was stronger. Now we are faced with a

weaker economy and much weaker public finances and fiscal capacity.

SPORTS 11. Hockey Legend Balbir Singh passed away, succumbing to prolonged illness.

Profile –

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TECHNOLOGY

12. What are the details of the first ELISA test of India?

BACKGROUND = The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has developed an

immunological assay — enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) — to detect

antibodies that the body develops in response to infection by the SARS-CoV-2 novel

coronavirus. ELISA is routinely used for detecting HIV infection. This is the first time India

has developed an indigenous ELISA test for coronavirus. While ELISA tests for coronavirus

are already available in other countries. The ELISA test is of significance as the rapid

antibody tests imported from China were found to be unreliable and hence the States

were instructed not to use them for detecting previous novel coronavirus infection.

NIV had transferred the technology, granting the commercial production to Zydus Cadila

for mass-scale production.

While RT-PCR test can detect current infection, ELISA can map past infection, even in

asymptomatic cases.

13. Give a historical account and the current status of ‘e-NAM’, the national digital

platform for agricultural trade?

BACKGROUND = The National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) is a pan-India electronic

trading portal which networks the almost 7,000 existing mandis run by Agricultural

Produce Market Committees (APMC) to create a unified national market for agricultural

commodities, with a promise to promote real-time price discovery based on actual supply

and demand.

History of evolution –

It was launched in April 2016 but progress was slow, especially as many States did not

amend their APMC Acts; most farmers were not part of the cooperatives that would help

aggregate the bulk quantity of produce needed to interest online buyers and most mandis

did not possess the infrastructure to make the most of the platform.

By January 2019, when the first inter-State trade took place, there were only 585 mandis connected to the platform, although the Agriculture Ministry promised to integrate 415 more mandis by March 2020. At the end of March 2020, however, the number of markets connected to e-NAM still remained stagnant at 585, even as the nation went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hundreds of mandis shut their physical gates.

Now –

COVID-19 has given a boost to e-NAM, the national digital platform for agricultural trade, with the number of connected mandis, or wholesale markets, up 65% since the lockdown. Recently, 177 more mandis joined the platform, taking the total to 962 nationwide, giving farmers and traders another option at a time when transport disruptions and social distancing requirements have made physical mandi trade more difficult.

Cause -

The Centre recognised the potential of e-NAM in overcoming some of the hurdles of the lockdown, and introduced some important new features in April:

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1) A trading module allowing Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to trade produce directly from their collection centres without bringing it to mandis.

2) A warehouse-based trading module and a logistics module offering users trackable transport facilities through aggregators with access to 11 lakh trucks.

There are more than 13 crore farmers in India. However, an encouraging sign is the more than 1,000 FPOs which are registered on the platform, providing access to their members.

14. How does the progressing under trail Moderna Vaccine for Covid-19 work? And How

can it reach India?

BACKGROUND = Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine: Phase 1 trial results of the vaccine, mRNA-

1273, have been found promising. A look at what the vaccine is composed of and how it

works, what the trials showed, and what are the many stages that remain.

What is mRNA – 1273? The mRNA in the name means messenger RNA, which carries the genetic formula for the coding of a specific protein. In this vaccine, the particular mRNA used codes for the most distinguishing feature of the SARS-CoV2 — the spike protein — which is also the appendage that the virus uses to enter the cell and replicate.

The vaccine, when injected into a person, codes for the spike protein. Thus even without the introduction of an attenuated (recognisable but not harmful) virus into the body, the body learns what the virus looks like and arms itself with the antibodies that are required to act against it.

Means to reach India

are?

There are philanthropic organisations that work on

vaccines and soften the financial blow for countries with

limited resources. These include the likes of the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation and GAVI—The Vaccine Alliance

which have been working very closely with the

Government of India on immunisation.

With the country’s cases crossing 1 Lakh, Moderna stated

that it will continue to work together, with government,

industry and other third parties to enable the best chance

for success.

15. Describe the 2 new ways found at IIT-Guwahati to fight Alzheimer’s disease?

BACKGROUND = A war trick borrowed from Greek mythology, could help reduce short-term memory losses associated with Alzheimer’s disease. And Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) have, after a five-year study, arrived at methods for preventing the accumulation of neurotoxic molecules in the brain, which leads to memory loss.

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Cause of

Alzheimer’s

It is due to the accumulation of amyloid-beta peptides in the brain.

This peptide is akin to the plaque that blocks arteries over a period of

time, affecting blood supply and leading to cardiovascular diseases. Its

aggregation, meaning the formation of one over the other, deforms

the cortex of the brain leading to Alzheimer’s.

The peptide molecules need to have a certain structure to aggregate.

1st Method to fight

Alzheimer’s disease

The use of “trojan peptides” that does what the Trojan horse did

for the ancient Greeks in their victory over Troy.

It is to design a “deceitful” peptide with “negative syncretical

points” for checking the plaque formation.

2nd Method to fight

Alzheimer’s disease

The application of a low-voltage electric field toward preventing

amyloid plaques from aggregating to cause memory loss.

The use of an external electric or magnetic field modulates these

molecules to “pull back the possibility of Alzheimer’s to a certain

extent”.

The Trojan peptide is roughly like the peptide in the body. But while it goes along with the other peptides, its function is contrary to aggregation. Through intravenous injection of the trojan peptide, we can retard the degeneration of nerve cells by 17-35%, translating into a 10-year delay in the onset of the disease.

The IIT-G researchers said some 100 potential drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s

disease failed between 1998 and 2011. The development of a cure for the disease is

important for India, which is third behind China and the U.S. in the number of Alzheimer’s

patients.

16. What does it mean by ‘Arogya Setu app is now Open Source’?

BACKGROUND = Amid concerns over privacy of data being collected by its COVID-19

contact tracing app, the government has said it was open-sourcing Aarogya Setu. And also

launched a “Bug Bounty” programme wherein financial rewards will be given to security

researchers for finding any vulnerability in the application or suggesting improvements to

the source code.

What is

Open

Sourcing

With the release of the source code in the public domain, the government is

looking to expanding collaboration and to leverage the expertise of top

technical brains amongst the talented youth and citizens of our nation and to

collectively build a robust and secure technology solution to help support the

work of frontline health workers in fighting this pandemic together.

Conditions The “Bug Bounty” programme will be open to Indian and foreign nationals, but

only Indians will be eligible for rewards offered under the scheme. Anyone who

points out a security vulnerability in the app source code will be eligible for a

reward of up to 3 lakh, and up to 1 lakh for pointing out a suggestion or

improvement in the source code.

Advantage

s

1) The step will have a positive impact on the privacy of Indian users.

2) This will improve transparency on how the data is used.

3) Improve security by minimizing bugs and empower experts to improve the

app via public contributions.

4) The government of India has an amazing policy on adoption of open source

software that encourages formal adoption and use of open source software in

government organizations.

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Thus, the government from now will be verifying that all code is open source and global

best practices are followed.

SNIPPETS

BIODIVERSITY

1. Dibang Valley Project delayed by 6 years

The Forest Advisory Committee, the apex body of the Environment Ministry tasked with deciding whether forest land can be diverted for industrial projects, has once again deferred its decision on a controversial hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh.

The 3,097 mw Etalin Hydropower project, in the State’s Dibang Valley, has been delayed for over six years. This is because it required diverting 1,165 hectares of forest in a region of rich biodiversity.

The reasoning, according to the minutes of the meeting, was that since 2015 the government may have changed its policy on hydropower projects. Several hydropower projects have undergone a rethink because of the costs, ecological damage and alternatives in the form of wind and solar energy.

2. 2020, a good year for the Olive Ridleys.

Mass hatching of the Olive Ridley turtle eggs has ended at the Rushikulya rookery on

the Odisha coast.

On an average, 80 to 100 hatchlings come out from each nest. This year, almost 3,23,063 Olive Ridley turtles had nested the lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced human presence during the mass nesting period, there was also a reduction of waste along the beach, allowing for easier movement of the hatchlings to the sea.


3. Direct taxes revenues defy lockdown, jump 36.6% in April.

Among the zones, Mumbai reported a massive 500% growth in net tax collections,

followed by Bengaluru that reported 160% growth. Delhi, at number three, reported a

34% growth in April.

Some reports suggest that GST collection in April and May could decline drastically as the

number of electronic permits for transporting goods is down 80% in April. With the

lockdown extended till May 17, tax collections are expected to remain subdued.

4. European economy faces historic recession

Commission forecasts it to contract by 7.7% even as member countries are gradually easing restrictions

The grim prediction from Brussels came as Europe’s biggest economy Germany unveiled plans for a near-return to normality, even as fresh data from the powerhouse revealed manufacturing and car sales have been badly hammered.

Germany forged ahead with its plans to reopen, and will allow all students back to school this month, all shops to reopen and even restart the top-flight football Bundesliga.

In Britain, the Mayor of London eyed a gentler return to normal, saying pedestrian and cycle routes would be expanded to help people avoid public transport.

France is inching towards a May 11 deadline to allow some schools to open their doors again after almost two months, while lawmakers in Spain met on Wednesday to vote on extending lockdown measures by two weeks.

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5. CII seeks Rupee15 Lakh Crore as Immediate Stimulus Package

CII has urged the government to announce an immediate stimulus package of ₹15 lakh crore, which translates into 7.5% of GDP, with COVID-19 crippling the Indian economy.

The broad elements of the stimulus include cash transfers amounting to ₹2 lakh crore to JAM account holders.

Further, in order to provide enterprises the immediate support to pay salaries to its workers and avoid any job losses, CII has suggested a provision of ₹2 lakh crore for additional working capital limits to be provided by banks, equivalent to April-June wage bill of the borrowers, backed by a government guarantee, at 4-5% interest.

6. AIIB clears 500$ Million loan to India

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) aims to support India’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is part of a $1.5 billion project being co-financed by the World Bank. In terms of immediate needs to slow and limit the spread of the pandemic, the project

will help scale up procurement of personal protective equipment, oxygen delivery

systems and medicines.

7. Amid concerns over widening fiscal deficit, bond yields rise by 20 bps.

The yield on the most-traded 10-year government bond spiked 20 bps (basis points)

after the government announced it would increase its market borrowings by more

than ₹4 lakh crore for FY21.

The yield rose 27 bps, the sharpest intraday surge since February 2017.

As per the new revised FY21 borrowing calendar, the central government will now

borrow ₹6 lakh crore in the first half of the current financial year against the ₹4.88 lakh

crore budgeted initially (owing to the low tax revenues of the government)

Reserve Bank of India should announce open market operations (OMO) to purchase

government securities to address the supply glut, else there would be pressure on

yields (the Reserve Bank has estimated to have done secondary OMOs to the tune of

₹750 billion [₹75,000 crore] already. Nonetheless, unless there are more assertive

actions by the RBI on funding of the government’s market loans, there will remain an

overhang on the G-sec market, with more pressure on the longer end of the curve).

8. Industrial output shrank 16.7% in March

This comes after a positive growth of 4.5% recorded in February. Manufacturing sector output slumped 20% in March, while electricity generation

shrank almost 7%, the mining sector remained flat, without any growth or contraction in output.

The worst affected being the automobile sector, which saw a 50% decline, and the computer and electronic products sector, which fell almost 42%. The manufacture of machinery, electrical equipment and other metal products saw a 31-33% fall in output.

The most resilient sectors were coke and refined petroleum products, which only contracted 1.8%, and food and beverages manufacture, which shrank 10.5% and 6.4% respectively.

April is going to be much worse. I would project a 60-70% decline,” said Pronab Sen, eminent economist and former Chief Statistician of India.

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9. WB approves $1 Billion to support India’s fight against pandemic Providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted

by pandemic.

10. Merchandise Exports drop over 60% With the global trade coming to a near halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s

merchandise exports nosedived over 60% in the last month to $10.36 billion from $26.07 billion in April 2019.

Except for iron ore and drugs and pharmaceuticals, all other commodities saw a negative growth. Noting that exporting units, especially in the engineering sectors, are largely MSMEs. While the MSME package would provide liquidity infusion, the units need straight- forward fiscal support like waiving of electricity charges, water bills, and wage support for survival.

11. Indian Economy and Markets slip into the red. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that GDP growth in the

current financial year is expected to be in negative territory. He added that currently, weakness in the growth outlook has been the key concern of

the Monetary Policy Committee. Incidentally, the BSE Bankex and BSE Finance were the top losers among the sectoral indices, shedding 2.44% and 3%

Banking, financials bear brunt; FPIs net sell 1,354-cr. Shares.

12. EU’s 750Billion Euro – Economic Rescue Plan Under the proposal, which could still be blocked by more frugal northern nations, the

European Commission would borrow the funds from the market and then disburse two-thirds in grants and the rest in loans to cushion the unprecedented slump expected this year due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Much of the money will go to Italy and Spain, the EU nations worst affected by the pandemic

The plan has to be approved by all 27 member states and the European Parliament. The borrowing will ultimately have to be repaid, meaning higher national contributions to the EU budget in the future or new taxes assigned to the bloc.

13. Bountiful Wheat production, despite lockdown

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14. FDI rises 13% to $50 billion, highest flow into services

The country had received an FDI of $44.36 billion during April-March 2018-19. The sectors which attracted maximum foreign inflows during 2019-20 include services

($7.85 billion), computer software and hardware ($7.67 billion), telecommunications ($4.44 billion), trading ($4.57 billion), automobile ($2.82 billion), construction ($2 billion), and chemicals ($1 billion), the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data showed.

Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI in India during the last fiscal with $14.67 billion investments. It was followed by Mauritius ($8.24 billion), the Netherlands ($6.5 billion), the U.S. ($4.22 billion), Caymen Islands ($3.7 billion), Japan ($3.22 billion), and France ($1.89 billion).

FDI is important as the country requires major investments to overhaul its infrastructure sector to boost growth.

TECHNOLOGY

15. All about DRDO’s new discovery – The Disinfectant Tower?

BACKGROUND = The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has

developed an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection tower for rapid and chemical-free disinfection

of high infection-prone areas. It was designed and developed by Laser Science &

Technology Centre (LASTEC) based in Delhi with the help of New Age Instruments and

Materials Private Limited, Gurugram.

16. China launches ‘The Long March 5B’ rocket China successfully launched a new rocket and prototype spacecraft, in a major test of

the country’s ambitions to operate a permanent space station and send astronauts to the Moon by 2022.

The United States is so far the only country to have successfully sent humans to the Moon.

The successful maiden flight of the 54-metre Long March 5B — which has a take-off mass of about 849 tonnes — should reassure China, following failures of the 7A model in March and 3B model in April. The new spaceship will give China an advantage in the area of human spaceflight over Japan and Europe.

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MONTHLY NEWS DAIRY - Sosin Classes · 2020. 6. 4. · MONTHLY NEWS DIARY MAY -2020 +91 9989966744...

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